All Our Tomorrows
by MoonlightStroll
Summary: The former Watchdog is now a demon, trying to figure out his new place in the world. Now that Earth believes him to be dead, he and his butler are able to roam as they please and get to know each other far beyond the boundaries of their original contract. Meanwhile, old enemies scheme to destroy their unshakable bond. What will it take to be victorious? Follow for updates!
1. When Bored, Grab a Snack

_~Kuroshitsuji is a fandom with great potential for its characters. I had to explore it. Thanks in advance for reading, and f_ _ollow for upcoming chapters!~_

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 **Chapter I: When Bored, Grab a Snack**

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"Tch. Useless."

"I'm sorry, young master."

"Honestly. Is it a butler's duty to keep his master without anything to do?"

"Young master, I cannot suddenly arrange an event or make plans for you, as we're not in the human realm."

The newborn demon, formerly "Earl Ciel Phantomhive" but now just Ciel Phantomhive, sat at the end of a ridiculously long mahogany table, demon counterpart and butler at his side. They looked quite irritated with each other. Ciel glared at the table, while Sebastian Michaelis shut his eyes and put a few graceful fingers to his forehead.

There were other demons coming and going in the room of marble, but few. One or two sat at the far end of the table conversing, but neither master nor butler paid them any mind.

"How did you live here before making a contract with me? No – rather, _why_ did you live here? It's so dull."

"Dull?" Sebastian asked innocently, removing the china from his master's view and setting it back on the cart.

"Yes. Day in and day out for three months, with empty plates and teacups. I'm sick of the routine. I want to go back to the human realm. Maybe finally avenge Madam Red, if it eases the boredom."

"I imagine Mr. Sutcliff would not be expecting it."

Ciel smiled momentarily. "No, I suppose not. That may actually be amusing."

"According to the series of notes I left, everyone believes that you are dead. Reappearing from the grave would certainly raise a commotion, since so many know your old name."

"So that's what you meant."

It was silent for a few moments.

"What you mean to say is that I can never return? That I have to stay _here?_ "

"No, my lord, just avoiding England is what I recommend."

Ciel looked him in the eye. "They're only humans. When helping me obtain my revenge, you didn't care about drawing attention to yourself. Why do you care now?"

"I was only thinking of you, master."

"Humans don't matter to me."

Sebastian's lips curled into a trademark grin. "Then let us get your revenge on Mr. Sutcliff."

* * *

"Y-You're alive?" the reaper shrieked. "How did a kid like you even find me?! I was only doing my job!"

Grell crouched on the roof of a building lining the alleyway, his gleaming death-scythe in his hand. The reaper was a blast of red in the night, a stark contrast to the blanket of blue hues that covered everything in sight. The death god's eyes were wide with disbelief at first, but he was quick to get over the shock by fixing his eyes on the butler.

"Reaper, come down here and face me!" Ciel shouted.

"Face _you?_ " the reaper laughed. He stood to his full height and swung the chainsaw over his shoulder effortlessly. "Sebas- _chan_ , you've messed with this kid. He isn't human anymore, am I right~? _Ah,_ that note you left me must have been a lie."

"I did not lie. It merely stated that the master had passed away."

The reaper eagerly leaped down from the roof and, to both of the demons' disappointment, landed on his feet. "You could have given me more details," he teased, the chainsaw looking menacing in the way that the light glinted off of it.

Ciel didn't hesitate in taking the first swing. His outstretched hand arched through the air, skimming Grell's petite nose. The reaper squealed and sprang back on his heels, and before he knew what he was really doing, the chainsaw swung back in an identical arc, barely missing the young demon's infuriated face. Their dance commenced like that, swinging back and forth, while Sebastian stood straight and indifferent as the witty banter began.

"Do something new, reaper!" Ciel lashed out, mid-arc.

"I won't fight a child!" Grell replied, as if finally honor-bound by something. Perhaps it was just the sight of the familiar kid trying to murder him all by his little self. The ferocity in his eyes was almost freakish, truly the reflection of a creature that he just flat out did not want to cross.

" _CHILD!?"_ the boy roared. _"You dare – you, of all people! I will make you choke on your own tongue."_

"Young master."

Ciel doubled his efforts, the movements of his claws nearly undetectable to the human eye. Grell was taken aback and had ceased to use his death scythe, instead putting all effort into avoiding the blows. It was a flash of red here, a flash of blue there.

Sebastian sighed, arms at his sides. Though he should have been enjoying the show, the sight of the death god in such terror – more terror than he _himself_ was able to inspire when he was in this position with his butter knives – well, that brought a little scorn into his features. Jealous of his young master? Sebastian Michaelis? When could he ever recall being jealous of another demon?

Ah, he knew the answer. Sebastian, in his form now, wasn't all that terrifying. Yes, there was an air about him that posed a warning to others, but beyond that, both men and women gravitated towards him and his grace. His young master, on the other hand, was a child demon. He eternally had a thirteen-year-old's face, which, naturally, wasn't meant to have the rage and intelligence that a demon possessed. In other words, it was more obvious that Ciel Phantomhive was no human being. The child's willingness to flaunt his powers was no help for the guise, either.

The unfruitful attempts of his master to touch even a hair on Grell's head finally became a cue to move in and assist, and so, as one hell of a butler, Sebastian stepped into the fight. He found room between Ciel's blows to add his own, adding to the volley of attacks effortlessly. The rhythm of this made it seem like they were taking quick turns, but this only maddened the late earl even more.

" _No. He's mine!_ " the boy commanded, his hand swooping up to Sebastian's chest momentarily, enough to stop the older demon in his tracks. The fight continued on, leaving a shocked Sebastian Michaelis in its wake. For the first time since their contract had been made permanent, he bared his teeth in true irritation.

Grell Sutcliff, though he showed no signs of it, was getting exhausted. He couldn't find time to escape between each blow directed at him, and was becoming uncertain of himself. The boy was a monster. Adorable, he used to be, but now, he was just a plain monster. More truly a demon than his own Sebas-chan. He had to get out of there, before the boy remembered the one way to destroy him. "Alright, alright!" he began to cry. "Alright! I get it!"

Ciel didn't stop or give thought to stopping. The attacks continued full throttle. He had become a machine, with just one task in front of him.

"Sebastian, there's something wrong with him!" the reaper pleaded, quite hysterical by now. "Stop him! Just stop him!"

"Young master!" the butler called. "Young master, this achieves nothing."

"The hell it doesn't!" His hands were claws, audibly slicing the air in front of Grell. "Don't tell me what to do, demon!"

"My lord…"

It couldn't be helped. Sebastian vaulted into the line of fire and caught the master's coat in his grip. In that instant, the reaper split like a banana, chainsaw and all, leaving them behind. The two demons grappled with each other until the older one closed his arms around the younger. Ciel huffed in his butler's arms, his eyes bright as fire. "How dare you," he hissed. But his head drooped against Sebastian's chest, and his small body, after ten straight minutes of exertion, finally relaxed.

"My lord, if you don't mind me suggesting, we should conceal our abilities in this realm. Humans are –"

"Humans are what? They are small. Weak. They can do nothing to us. Don't suggest such things. I am the master here, I will say what we do with our powers."

"…Yes, my lord." The silence continued on for a few more precious minutes, where there was no other sound in the alley besides his master's labored breathing. But, things became blessedly calm. Not that Sebastian would ever use that word.

"Are you hungry yet?" Sebastian asked.

"No, I told you. I am not hungry. I am never hungry…" Then the young master smiled a devious, evil smile, almost reminiscent of Alois. "Are you?"

His gaze was one of concealed contempt, and Ciel could see it. "Yes," he answered. "Always and forever."

The situation became uncomfortable for Ciel. "Release me." He dusted off his coat in an imperial sort of way, and just stood there motionless, staring out ahead of him.

"Young master?"

Nothing. Then:

"…Why am I not hungry?"

Sebastian sighed and shut his eyes. When he opened them, his master's gaze was trained on his face in an utterly unreadable expression. "You were born human. Your body is accustomed to human nourishment. It will take longer perhaps than both of us know before you start to crave what other demons crave."

Ciel smiled again, this time in a less hostile fashion. "I do miss your sweets," he quietly confessed. "Prepare a parfait, when we return home? I just want the taste of it. The smell of it."

He returned the smile. "Yes, my lord. If you'll allow me…you are quite rumpled after that scuffle." His gloved hands reached out to neaten his young master's hair, and straighten his coat. He had the sudden urge to hold that small hand in his own and measure the delicacy of it, the biggest paradox of all paradoxes, but he resisted it. Hands again at his sides, he began to follow Ciel out of the alleyway and into the light of the streetlamps, where the glow illuminated both of their flawless features.

* * *

Yes. The boy was a nuisance. But when he had first found Ciel Phantomhive, the vision of so much suffering harbored in the body of a tiny, fragile child, excited Sebastian like nothing ever had before. The boy was a paradox. He was internally strong, outwardly weak. And although he sometimes seemed completely unable to handle himself and got into too much mischief for his own good, the earl always righted himself and held the dam back. There was something continually surprising about him.

All in all, it was something rare, and precious, and truly alluring beyond anything Sebastian Michaelis had ever known. After that fateful day when the soul was forever locked to the small body, he found it disappointing to lose some of that fragile glow in his young master – but he couldn't deny that he immensely enjoyed the ferocity that took its place.

It was like watching him slowly go mad. Finally, seeing the boy break! Seeing the dam wash over him, witnessing him lose his composure after the few precious years he had served him while he was an emotionless child. It was enough to drive any demon wild. Was he jealous of that fury? Yes. But he thoroughly enjoyed it, nonetheless. As a human, Ciel Phantomhive was lost to him. But as a demon, it was something new and altogether seductive.

It was almost heartbreaking, actually. As both human and demon, the young master's soul was a beautiful thing.

"You keep watching my back. Stop doing that," Ciel muttered. Another streetlamp lit up his hair to its fullest, and the light slowly died away as they passed it. Puddles on the street shown gold. A late night carriage rumbled by, empty of its passenger.

The boy sighed. "It's good to be back. England is truly my home."

"Young master, I must insist that you keep your face hidden. You have been pronounced dead for over three months now, but it is still well known by the public."

"I know, Sebastian. But wouldn't it be fun to raise some hell?" he looked over his shoulder at the butler and smiled that devious smile. He was smiling much more than he had when he was living, and Sebastian didn't know if he liked it or not quite yet. "Show me…how to kill someone. I want to taste a soul now. Show me."

"Yes, my lord. If you'll allow me, I shall instruct you on how to find one."

"Why is that, if there are so many in supply here?"

"My master should taste nothing but the best. At least," he smiled, "the best next to yours."

"Then walk by my side, Sebastian. I will not stare at your back."

This startled the butler, but he complied. They walked side by side, step for step, until they made one sound as if it was just one man striding in the night. The boy's eyes swept the cityscape like a true predator, and Sebastian admitted to himself that he enjoyed this spectacle. Slowly but surely, they found a rundown apartment with a human hiding inside, a young man of twenty. By the light of a candle, his profile was lit up for them as they viewed him down from the street.

"What is so special about him?" Ciel asked derisively.

"Look closer. Listen. See the purity of him?" Sebastian asked quietly. He grinned directly at his young master. "See it."

Though it couldn't be described, something about this man seemed gravitating and priceless in comparison to the other souls they crossed on these streets. There was a glow about him. Ciel's eyes widened at the sight. "Ah…"

Sebastian began the climb up the wall to the open window next to that of their target. It was narrow, just wide enough for both of their trim figures to scurry through it like alley cats in the dark.

"He's a scholar," Sebastian noted, "pure to his core. He has no other desire but to learn. Judging by the state of this apartment, we can assume that he can't afford to attend a university, so when he comes home from working long hours at the factory, he cracks open his books. He has no purpose for learning other than to better himself and his family, and that is what adds to his soul's flavor."

Sebastian, with a flick of his finger, made the lock turn until the door into the hallway creaked open.

"Nothing like yours of course, but this may be a treat nonetheless."

Without the light from the window, the darkness was deeper. Yet Ciel found he was at home in it, embraced by it like the light had never done. Their eyes glowed in it, focused on the door ahead of them at the end of the hallway, with the weak candlelight underneath it.

"That smell…" Ciel whispered. The tall dark figure of his butler inched towards the door. It was Sebastian's turn to smile at his master over his broad shoulder, before the door was opened by the same invisible will he used on the lock.

The young man, mid-sentence, was too tired to jump out of his seat. He instead looked at them with alarm. The ink of his pen spilled over his book, and, observing his clumsiness, he cursed under his breath and pushed it aside. Both demons entered the room with an air of ominousness.

"Is it my rent? At this hour? I told you I will pay it by the end of the week. I'm just in a bit of a fix right now."

"Faust, is it?" Sebastian asked, his eyes observing the pages as if he was reading them from such a distance.

"Sebastian, don't chat with him. Just show me."

The man was comically confused, sitting upright in his chair.

"Very well, my lord. But are you prepared to face the consequences? To kill an angel is one thing. To kill a human is another. Should you perish –"

"I'm a demon. I don't plan on dying, and I don't anticipate any consequences for something I'm supposed to do in the first place. Besides, it's time I do it with my own hands. Properly."

Sebastian smiled again. That his master was so certain of living forever was astounding. He gently approached the young scholar until the space between them was closed, and snatched the collar of his shirt. The man cursed again, this time more violently. The butler's hands gathered the fabric, and he knelt over the man almost sensuously.

The scholar's flushed face was shocked, and finally, after a true meeting of their eyes, he knew that what held him in his seat was not natural. Slowly but surely, he began to struggle, and a sweat broke out on his brow.

"Young master, he knows now. Come here and observe, and I shall be your tutor again."

Ciel, cold, stepped next to Sebastian, and fixed his calculating eyes on the both of them. His composure was once again maddening. Surely the scent of this soul was as alluring to him as it was to the butler.

Sebastian held the man's chin in check, and, for a moment, suddenly wondered if he could devour the soul right then there, and pretend that it had escaped before his master could get to it. But he was under contract. He couldn't do it. Not only were the laws absolute, it would be most unsatisfying to do it so quickly.

So he simply said, "Watch."

His nose touched the young man's, as it had done on that day. His lips parted, simultaneous with the brightening of his eye color, and his sharp teeth became visible. The man underneath him was wordless, and in some kind of struggle with his lungs, or his mind. Sebastian's mouth opened wide, further exposing the teeth. To Ciel's surprise, the man's lips parted on cue, and Sebastian took a small but deliberate breath. The man's breathing hitched and his eyes rolled up into his head for that brief moment, and when the demon retracted, he blinked in foggy confusion. He began redoubling his efforts to be free.

"It is that easy. You will draw it out the whole way."

Ciel scowled forward. "No. I will rip it out." He knelt down beside his butler, taken by surprise at the warmth that greeted him. He took the man's collar in his hands as Sebastian released it. Ciel was quick to jab his knee down to keep him still, and, like his butler had, he hovered his face over the scholar's.

Sebastian rose and watched with animalistic eyes, hunger growing at the sight of another demon enjoying something he could not. His master went as close to the prey as he pleased and, eyes sliding downwards, he opened his mouth, wide and vicious. Those tiny teeth peeked through the child's mouth. Ciel breathed a deep, indulgent breath, lungs seemingly taking life from the other's lungs. The man shuddered all over and, as the first shred of his soul came forth, a convulsion took hold of his form. The sounds he made were strangled and disturbing, as the boy took in the essence by the mouthful. Sebastian, ever attentive, was transfixed on his master's face, to enjoy what he could without partaking in the meal.

It wasn't enough. The man had ceased to move, and yet the boy had figured out through scent that what little remained of the man's life was within the veins. He slit the throat with his fingernails and gnawed deep, indifferent to the hungry gaze of his butler.

Finally, it was over.

Ciel Phantomhive's mouth and shirt were caked with the scholar's blood. Sebastian took his handkerchief and, with all the composure he could muster, wiped away the liquid rubies from his master's face. The boy huffed again as if after another fight. He collapsed into Sebastian's arms and they knelt together next to the dead body.

The sound of his breathing, the sound of his distress, the sound of his instincts stirring. Sebastian was careful not to enclose the boy in his arms more than necessary. Who knew he would really enjoy his master like this?

 _Starving now, agony_ , _sweet blood on his waistcoat, his prey in his arms._

"We will go home now," Ciel managed to say. "I want a bed. I feel as if I can actually sleep."

"It appears that would be best," Sebastian answered stoically. He stood carrying the boy in his arms, and quietly left the apartment through the deceased's window.

* * *

 _There will be many updates to come, so if you're interested, follow the story! Also leave a review so that I know how I'm doing. Thanks for reading~!_


	2. When In Doubt, Make Plans

**Chapter II: When in Doubt, Make Plans**

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For the first time in over three months, Ciel Phantomhive slept. Sebastian kept watch. They weren't in the manor, and a strange demon could very well intrude at any moment, though the butler didn't warn his master of this. There was no cause for it. Upon their arrival, the most attention Ciel gave the other residents of Hell was passing glances. From what Sebastian could deduce, his master had little to no interest in others like himself. And that was perhaps for the best.

After all, his dealings with demons throughout his short lifetime had only left a bad impression.

"S- Seba…"

"Are you awake, young master?"

"…No."

The older demon smiled despite himself. His little master lied, still. He was allowed the luxury of lying.

Ciel Phantomhive sat up and put a hand to his head, shut his eyes. "I dreamed he was still alive, Sebastian." His hands pulled at his hair.

"Who, my lord?"

"Claude Faustus, you fool. I dreamed he was still alive."

"I assure you, he is utterly destroyed." Sebastian stood gracefully at the door, a great dark shadow in the boy's peripheral vision. "Would you like me to light a candle?"

His master hesitated in saying yes. The room was instantly illuminated by the tiny light on the nightstand, and it began to flicker and distort the shadows. Ciel stared at it mechanically.

"Would it comfort you to tell me about it?"

"It would comfort me if you stayed quiet for a moment," his master snapped, ever attentive on the candle. His eyes grew wide and blazed like the fire, as he glared at it. Suddenly, the flame blew out.

"Ah! Light it again, Sebastian."

It didn't matter that the boy had just been rude to him. The butler was enjoying this. He crossed the room, reached out to light the candle a second time, and retracted his arm. Both demons stared at it.

Five seconds later, it went out.

A short, devious grin emerged from the boy's lips. "Light it without touching it."

Sebastian did so, already transfixed by his young master's amusement. So the child was beginning to remember how to really smile. This was a priceless thing.

Ciel held up his hand, black fingernails winking in the light, and aimed his palm at the flame. It sprouted and grew for a second, before the young demon frowned and glared at his butler.

"Why can you make the fire grow so large when I can't?" he asked curtly. "You've burnt down whole buildings with just a single candle."

Sebastian knelt at the bedside and watched the flame for a little while. He simply replied, "I am older than you are, my lord. We gain power with time and souls. You've been a demon for a mere three months and have eaten but one soul."

"So you are calling me a child."

The butler held up his hand to the candle as his master had, fingers out like claws. The light flickered over his features in a very otherworldly way, and Ciel tried not to be distracted by this. His anticipation was short. The flame vaulted up and roared as it cooked the ceiling, blowing back their hair and garments, then dropped back down. It was as if nothing had happened, except for the scorched spot on the ceiling. Wide-eyed, Ciel observed the evidence above their heads, as his butler stared at him.

"Teach me how to do that."

"Young master, you already know how to do it, as you previously demonstrated. It is simply a matter of time. And we have plenty of it."

"…Indeed. Are we required to repair what we break?"

"No, my lord. Everything is eventually broken here."

Ciel surveyed the room as if seeing it for the first time. He hugged himself and drew up his knees. "I see no suffering here, Sebastian. I imagined Hell very differently."

Had it not been his young master, the butler would have made a smart comment about him _wanting_ to see suffering. "I've kept you away from it. But it exists. This is merely the first circle."

"That's why there is no light when we go outside."

He nodded.

"It isn't customary to ask a butler his opinion, but – Do you prefer the human realm to this one, Sebastian?"

"Yes," he answered honestly. "Though it may be populated with humans and their creations, I do prefer it to this one. As you said earlier this evening, this realm is _dull_."

Ciel closed his eyes and nodded. "Now that I am no longer human, you give much more satisfying answers to my questions." He looked his butler in the eye. Red met blue. "So here is your reward: my apologies."

"Young master?"

The boy offered a small, rare, genuine smile – the kind that he offered only to his fiancée while he was living, if he had been in a good mood. He seemed again almost a human boy. The butler was shocked beyond disbelief, and humbled to be receiving such a gift.

And this is why the circus performers had named Ciel Phantomhive "Smile." When unleashed, it turned heads.

"I've hurt you, Sebastian. I made you my servant for eternity, and you're hungry. Now that I know the taste of a soul, I can begin to understand this. I – I've also been quite rude."

The butler, though still in shock, managed to bring a hand to his chest.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I like you. I just believe I owe you an apology. You've been a faithful servant. The…The Phantomhive name would be sullied if its loyal servants weren't acknowledged for their efforts."

"My lord, I am honored."

The boy's smile faded, as if that was all he could muster and his energy was draining. "You should be. The others never got this praise." He abruptly scowled into the dark. The flame's light indifferently danced on his face, in his eyes. "I feel regret. I'm no longer human, and I feel regret."

Sebastian smirked. "My, this is truly a night full of surprises."

"Do you feel regret?"

The butler was silent for the longest time. Unknown to his irritated master, he was trying to come up with the most honest answer possible. It came as no surprise that this was considerably difficult.

With a level voice and a cool head, he said, "Yes, a bit."

"A bit? Sebastian, elaborate. I will no longer take such short answers to such difficult questions."

"If you insist, my lord. Yes, I regret not devouring your soul sooner. It is a great waste now, of both my efforts and your goals. We both knew the end and accepted it. But, I do not regret ever meeting you, young master."

Ciel had an inkling as to the reason, but he had to know for sure. "And why is that?"

The older demon grinned in that familiar way, the light playing just as much in his eyes as on his skin. It would have been quite horrifying to a human being. "Life eternal is far more interesting with you as my master." Then, mockingly, "Would you like to know why that is?"

Two equally disturbing smiles lit up the room. Needless to say, it was an odd moment in time. Two planets in a faraway galaxy probably collided with one another. "No, I don't need any answer to that one. Or, I should say, I don't want that answer." Slowly, he frowned and gripped the butler's tie. "Don't mock me again."

Sebastian closed his eyes and bowed his head. "My sincerest apologies. I forgot myself."

"And stop smiling."

The butler gracefully put a knuckle to his lips. There was a hint of a disturbing chuckle there, as if it was still the day that they had made their contract. He rose, bent to blow out the candle, and turned towards the door.

"I feel you smiling. Honestly. Have you completely lost it?"

"Of course not, my young master." The tall shadow of a butler folded into his place at the door with the utmost composure. The boy pulled the blanket to his chin. Sebastian could already tell his time for sleeping was over, but the child wanted the comfort of the bed. So small, so weak… Utterly sinful to put such a strong soul into such a frail body. And to think, he had been able to undo that, if he had had his way. If he had…

Yes. Regret.

* * *

At night, questions.

In the afternoon, boredom.

In the morning, darkness.

Ciel Phantomhive was bored. With everything, every single detail of the demon realm unchangeable, he fancied he would go out of his mind if made to stay any longer. He insisted to his butler that they leave, immediately and for as long as possible, for the human realm. He wanted a new residence, one where there was no possibility of "raising Hell" at the sight of his face.

The only way to do this was to keep out of England.

So he settled for France, where he could see the Eiffel Tower again. Instead of raising Hell, he'd conjure up his memories. He could nearly see the angel Ash at the top; though, he too was dead at his butler's hands. Just about everyone that gave him trouble was dead. Just about.

The young Phantomhive took a townhouse for himself, with Sebastian for a day posing as his uncle in order to legally claim the property. With a new home and lack of problems to deal with, the former earl actually didn't know what to do with himself as he sat at his new desk.

There was no paperwork. No responsibilities, or obligations, or even invitations. There was just…nothing sitting there waiting for his signature.

Still, preferable to the darkness. The sun was here, as well as its warmth. He would always admit to that.

"My lord, though it may be absurd of me to ask, should I arrange for us to do something? You look as though you need some entertainment."

"It took you so long to guess," Ciel sighed. He felt as if he were about to let his head drop on the desk. But it would hurt, he thought, because there was no mound of paperwork to serve as a cushion.

"I could prepare a stack of papers for you to sign," Sebastian happily offered.

Ciel glared at him. "Don't mock me. Just…find a play or something for us to go to. _Not Hamlet_. Ah – actually, no theater at all if it's Shakespeare."

"That's all they advertise here right now, my lord. Perhaps a nature walk?"

"Fresh air, yes," the young master agreed. He stood and made way for the door, when Sebastian grabbed his arm. "What –"

"Though we are in France, I must advise that you wear clothes more suitable for a young man of the middleclass, when in the public eye."

The boy gave him a flat look. "Fine. Go fetch something."

Within ten minutes, the butler had retrieved two outfits: one for himself, which he was wearing, and one for his master. They both looked simple and French. Sebastian wore a top hat, slim double-buttoned peacoat, trousers and shined-up shoes, all black of course. He kept his gloves, and hung up his butler outfit in the bedroom closet.

What he offered to Ciel was a little on the flashy side – a smaller peacoat of the same kind, with the usual shorts and boots. There was a matching velvet cap (which Elizabeth would have _adored_ ), and a pair of small round shades to cover the contract in his eyes. The boy took this with surprise and, reluctantly, stuffed the eye patch into his pocket. Lastly, the butler tied the bowtie at the master's throat, and they were ready to stroll out into the world as new men.

* * *

Bright, and warm, and full of people. Little kids, older gentlemen, young women, just about every kind of human being. They talked and laughed and gossiped and played tag.

Ciel shut his eyes and let the sun warm his face. He was…just alive. He could nearly pretend that he was human, like the rest of these people. Though it seemed strange, perhaps it didn't matter what species he was today. He felt like himself.

Sebastian, diligently following, observed his master with a genuine admiration for the look of content on his face. Though it was in his nature to enjoy the boy's pain, the look where a smile could break out any moment was a precious thing too. Once or twice, he caught himself wishing to hear a lovely scream. But, again, that was only once or twice.

The young master was observing the height of the trees on either side of them. The leaves were like a great green canopy, letting in brilliant shards of sunlight that only pierced the air, lighting up the forest floor in small patches. He no longer tripped over any roots, or grew tired from the exertion of slopes, or was irritated by the insects. Truly, nothing seemed to deter his mood.

He began to recite: " _Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time…_ "

"I thought you wanted no Shakespeare today, my lord."

"Doesn't mean I can't recite it. I just didn't want to see anything performed." Finally, he lowered his eyes from the sky, and fell back onto a bed of the greenest grass, the velvet cap falling off his head in the process. His eyelashes brushed his cheeks as the patches of sun shimmered over him, shades mirroring the trees.

Sebastian knelt to pick up the cap and dust it off.

Without opening his eyes, Ciel lifted his hand and motioned for his butler to sit in the grass. He humbly complied.

"It's… pretty."

"My lord?"

"The earth… is pretty. I only wish I knew this when I was living."

The butler smiled down at him. "But you are still so human, to enjoy these luxuries."

"You don't enjoy the sun?" the boy asked. He opened his eyes in time for the butler to remove the shades. Sebastian studied the contract there and, removing his glove in that odd way of biting it off, placed his marked hand over the marked eye. Both of Ciel's blue orbs went pink under the older demon's touch.

"Explain to me the mechanics of body and soul," Ciel commanded calmly, eyes never straying. "Explain the science behind why I'm not eaten right now."

The butler smiled. "It is as it sounds. The soul is permanently locked to the body and cannot ever be separated from it."

"I don't understand. Even when the soul that I ate was able to be removed, it still took a considerable amount of effort to do that. And yet… I was able to taste it before it was separated. Not completely consume it, but taste it. Like Claude tasted mine."

"Young –"

"If it's as you say, and I still _have_ it – it is still possible to taste it."

The forest suddenly seemed darker.

"Demon's bleed," Ciel began.

"Young master, I must advise against this. Just enjoy the fortunate weather and –"

"Do you have a soul, Sebastian?"

The butler's eyes went just as pink as his master's. "Of course not. I was never a human being. What, should I ask, are you getting at, little master?"

Ciel glared at him and gripped the butler's contract hand in his own. "Answer me this: Would you be able to taste my soul if I was bleeding right now?"

"I am not sure, my lord. Briefly, perhaps."

"Is it a violation of the contract?"

"No. It only states I may not kill you or harm you until it is complete."

The young demon grinned. "And Hell knows that you've found your loopholes. Now I will create my own." After pulling down his sleeve, he bit his wrist with his tiny teeth, until blood was drawn. The sight of such red against white was astonishing. He held his arm straight out, looked his butler in the eye, and said, "This is an order: Taste my soul, if you can, and let me be rid of all guilt."

His master and guilt were not the closest of friends. Sebastian had assumed that his master was not even capable of it while he was human. This was very serious. But it was an order, and it didn't violate the contract. So…

"Yes, my lord." Time slowed down, surely. He was beginning to lose his composure at the sight of his blood. He took the boy's frail wrist in his hand, closed his eyes, and brought the wound to his mouth.

Something wrenched Ciel towards the demon. He couldn't tell what was physical or mental anymore, except that he felt as if he was gently being crushed. It would have been tremendously painful, if it weren't for the feeling of an anchor in his body, keeping him grounded. At the same time he felt his head swimming. The forest floor gave out underneath him and he fell down against it, parallel with the ground as if the whole world had turned on its side. If he concentrated, he could feel the warm and wet tongue against his wrist, pressing against the cut with terrible urgency. He felt absolutely human, for a few precious moments. In this feeling, he forgot his composure and, though he didn't know for sure, he tossed and turned on the grass.

It ended almost as soon as it started.

Slowly, he could see clearly again. Sebastian's eyes were radiant, his face utterly blank, as he stared down at him. He licked his hand, and this seemed to give his body some sort of jolt.

"So, that's what it would have been like," Ciel pondered. He wondered if he could sit up at all. He was shocked to find himself breathing so heavily, to have his hair in his face.

"No. You would have been crushed entirely." The demon butler licked his hand again, eyeing Ciel's wrist. He indulged in a wide and leery smile. "And you would have been fitfully screaming, as you used to do when having nightmares."

Ciel brushed his hair out of his eyes, astonished to find that his hand was trembling. "Aren't you in pain now, Sebastian?"

"Was that your goal, young master? To give me enough in order to make me suffer?"

The little master couldn't help but grin back. "Perhaps I lied when I said I feel guilt. Why should I feel guilt for outsmarting a wicked creature like you?"

Again, he licked his hand, observed the master's wrist, unaffected as always by his insults. If Ciel didn't know any better, he'd say that the older demon enjoyed that remark. Yes, he was mulling it over, as he savored the blood.

"Revolting…" the young demon whispered. Though he smiled, and watched the look on his butler's face as he clapped the inevitable handkerchief to his wrist. For the first time in ages, he felt as if he were about to laugh. Stunned, he seized the moment and turned it over in his mind, and the laughter started bubbling up from his lips.

"Young master, are you well?"

"Oh shut up, would you," the boy snickered. "You made me human for the briefest of seconds, though it was probably unintentional. I'd ask you to do it again, if it gives you pain. Are you in pain or not?"

So the laughter was sadistic. Well, nonetheless, it was laughter.

"Yes. My pain is terrible," he answered, though he showed no signs of it. Rather, his grin concealed it, while inside his body was raging with the tiny bit of nourishment it had just received. It wanted more, and he was staring at the source right in front of him, _yet he couldn't have it._ He could never have more than a mouthful, could never surround the soul with his teeth, or bite it, or swallow it whole. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to snatch the boy in his arms, crush him, and sink his teeth into that tiny porcelain throat. Just sink them in deep.

The boy sat up and observed that the wound was gone. He stood, dropped the handkerchief in the grass, and said, "Come. We should go back to the townhouse. I've had enough of this forest."

"What shall we do now, then, my lord?"

"Build my reputation, of course. If I can't be the Earl Phantomhive anymore, then I will gain wealth some other way. And this time, I will run something better than a toy factory for children."


	3. When In France, Be Spontaneous

**Chapter III: When in France, Be Spontaneous**

* * *

He started simple.

First, he ordered Sebastian to acquire enough money from strangers as a launching point. That was the easier part, and took the least amount of time. It was also quite entertaining for a while.

Next, they made small investments in all the right companies. Ciel Phantomhive was born with uncanny business skills, after all, and he could tell when a company would sink or float instinctually. He watched from his desk as the money they deposited grew, and grew, and grew. Some blackmail here and there also added to the pot.

It didn't seem to matter that the young lord was born into a wealthy family. He knew how to make himself wealthy on his own, and for this both the young man and his butler were fortunate. In the closet they hoarded jewelry and other small precious items, while in banks they established themselves. Soon, they were no longer ghosts. People around them began wondering about the newcomers and how they were becoming so successful so quickly.

"You have quite a talent for mugging people," Ciel remarked from behind his desk, idly playing a game of solitaire.

"Thank you, my lord. I've picked up a few things in my long lifetime." The butler dropped a pair of emeralds on the desk, to which the boy inspected from afar.

"They'll do."

Sebastian first deposited the jewels in the closet, then made the inevitable and solemn announcement: "You've received your first invitation, young master. A Sir Arthur Conwell, hosting a modest ball in Lyon. He's heard of your name and brilliance in business, and requests that you meet with himself and his acquaintances."

The former earl smiled and shuffled the cards in his small hands. "I have no true obligation to go. No family name to hold up, no rules of society to follow. Should I bother going?" he mused to himself.

"If you intend to spread your name, my lord, perhaps it is best that you attend it? Your dancing skills have improved immensely since your rebirth, after all."

Ciel didn't know whether to be flattered or angry with this, so he said nothing. He merely shuffled the cards again, and stared at his desk. The warmth of the sun from the window met his back. He shut his eyes.

"Everything depends on this decision, Sebastian. If I go, my name will spread, and I will again be submerged in society. I'd have to die a second death to disappear again. However, if I decide not to attend, my name will fade away until I call more attention to myself."

"And what's more," Sebastian added, "there is the question of your un-aging body. Should you choose to go back into the spotlight, the public will suspect you as time passes."

The boy sighed. The room was quiet. There was an air of seriousness about the young demon, as there always was before he said something decisively important.

"I ask you because I am bored. What would you have me do, Sebastian? Are you willing to be a part of the world again?"

The butler smiled down at him and his drowsy, beautiful blue eye. "Allowing a butler to make a decision for you? I'm humbled, master."

"I don't care one way or the other, that's all."

The older demon picked up a card, the King of Spades, and observed it as he spoke. "The demon realm is dull. You seem equally as bored here, at the moment. It seems that, to be entertained, you must be involved with people, even if they are merely humans. If I were in your shoes, young master, I would go to this ball, just to be spontaneous."

"And what about in your own shoes?"

The boy had a lot of interest in this question, though he did a good job of concealing it by pretending to be indifferent. Sebastian knew his young master well enough, however, to know when he was dying of curiosity. This was one of those rare times.

"In my own shoes…" the older demon thought, as if this was the most puzzling question in the world. "I would go."

"Fine, we'll go. Not because I enjoy socializing – that will be brief. We'll go because I want to be alive again. It's decided."

The butler grinned down at him, and placed the card back on the desk.

* * *

As they strode up the grand walkway to the entrance of the ball, lit up by the great chandeliers from inside, Ciel wondered why he was going through with this at all.

He didn't like dances.

But, there were things he couldn't overlook. Dancing wasn't such a hassle anymore, for one. He also wasn't dressed as a lady. His fiancée wasn't here, and neither was the Viscount Druitt, or the brat and his spider butler. As someone with a fairly new name, there was no risk of being the target of a kidnapper, either. All in all, this was just a dance, plain and simple.

He even got to wear what _he_ wanted, instead of someone else's clothing designs. A sleek, black suit, silky and lustrous in the light. The lace at his throat and wrists felt good to his hypersensitive skin. The rose, white as a pearl, was pinned to his jacket as if it were the day he had set out to die on a gondola. It smelled good to him, as well as the people that swarmed around him.

Sebastian was dressed as himself, in his classic swallowtail suit, which Ciel assumed he had grown attached to by this point. He was no tutor, nor magician. Just himself, without disguise. The two of them were back in polite society as just themselves. And despite his habits of being a wallflower, the former earl was actually enjoying himself.

Of course, polite society didn't allow for them to dance with each other. That was a blessing in and of itself. The master and butler danced with two unanimous ladies of high class, twirling as they did when fighting Grell Sutcliff – that is, they made a rhythm out of the quartet. The ladies enjoyed this, of course, as they were best friends and delighted to have such dashing company. As Ciel and Sebastian smiled to their partners and to each other, the two women giggled and conversed as if they weren't dancing at all.

Finally, after half an hour of dancing, the host of the party made his welcoming speech.

"Hello all, and thank you for being here tonight," said Sir Arthur Conwell. "I'm pleased to welcome you here to my manor, and I hope the food is good." The crowd laughed. The demons weren't amused. "To those of you whom I personally invited, if I haven't spoken with you yet, I will meet with you before the night is over. For now, I'd like to make a most important announcement."

Both demons stood still and attentive, as the rest of the crowd whispered.

Sir Arthur slowly descended down the stairs to a lovely young woman of his age, in a bright mint-colored dress. He took her hand and kissed it, a kiss of the purest chivalry, and gently knelt down on one knee before her.

A few of the girls in the crowd gasped and sighed, including the demons' two dance partners.

"Julie Emery, I ask for your hand in marriage."

Sebastian's eyes trailed to his young master, who seemed to be transfixed with the couple on the staircase. What was it, the sentimentality of the scene? Was he missing his fiancée? Or…

"Y-yes!" the woman exclaimed. The man rose abruptly and kissed her in front of the entire room of guests. Everyone began cheering and offering congratulations. In the midst of all the movement, the young master seemed as motionless as granite.

"Sebastian…" the boy mumbled, eyes far off on the couple.

"What is it, my lord?"

"…Do you see how pure she is?"

Sebastian's eyes swept across the crowd to the lucky woman in green. Her long auburn hair was pinned up with a ruby-encrusted pin. Her cheeks were flushed red as Sir Arthur gently stroked her hand and spoke to her. The two of them were incomparably happy. Her soul… her soul was considerably immaculate. From across the room, the demon butler could see it and smell it.

With undisguised hunger, the young lord observed her. It was a good thing they were surrounded by occupied guests, or they would have stood out a little too much for their own good. The look on Ciel Phantomhive's face would have chilled anyone who noticed it; perhaps it is what he would have looked like if Sebastian had ever dared to serve him dessert before dinner (while he was still alive, that is).

"I want her," the young demon stated. He took a step in her direction, until Sebastian grasped his wrist. Ciel's head whirled around to face his butler, fury in his eyes.

 _"They are but humans,"_ the boy hissed.

"This is not the time to raise Hell," Sebastian warned. "If you go after her now, you will get no audience with her fiancée. Don't forget the reason you came here, my lord."

"But I want her."

"I can understand, young master. But think of the implications. If you devour her soul right now in front of all of these guests, we would have to flee France and seek another home. Unless it is your wish to return to the demon realm?" His grip was firm.

"…No." The boy clutched his butler's hand and stared at the floor. "No. Not yet." They met eyes. "I want an audience with her once I've met with Sir Arthur. Later. See to it that no one knows about it but us."

As the crowd swirled again without any notice of what horror just took place, the butler gave a slight inclination of his head to his master and said, "Yes, my lord."

He grinned and took the hand of another lady, to which Ciel did the same. They melded into the sea of people and bided their time, waiting for the right moment to go in and speak with Sir Arthur and his acquaintances.

* * *

"Hello, Sir Arthur. I'm Ciel Phantomhive."

"Ah! So you are…my, you're much younger than I supposed." The older gentleman took the boy's hand in greetings and smiled politely.

The former earl returned it, but there was the slightest undertone of deviousness in his features. The man paid it no mind, or, rather, was oblivious to it.

"And this is my b – uncle, Sebastian Michaelis."

"How do you do," Sebastian said, and also shook Sir Arthur's hand.

"If I may ask, how is it that you acquired such a name in such a short amount of time? I don't recall ever hearing about you before reading your debut in last week's paper."

"I'm simply one hell of a businessman, you see. My uncle says he's never seen anything like it, especially in one of my age. I'm currently setting my sights on finding a larger property. Might I ask, Sir Arthur, your advice on obtaining my own manor? I'm unsure as to where to look."

The man briefly observed Sebastian, perhaps wondering why the uncle of this young boy seemed content not to intervene on such an important topic. But his eyes lowered to the young man once more.

"Lyon is a wonderful place for you, as I can attest to. But if you're willing to take on the big guns, Paris is the city every man dreams of. You look like someone who can handle the big city."

The young lord grinned. "Thank you, Sir Arthur."

"Pardon me, Mr. Michaelis, but – "

"Ah, Arthur!"

It was his new fiancée, Julie Emery. Ciel visibly stiffened at her arrival. Her smile was radiant as her eyes met that of her groom-to-be. She took his arm. "My sister wants to speak with you about wedding plans. Imagine that, she's already conniving! Oh, are these colleagues of yours?"

"Indeed. This is Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis. These impressive messieurs are looking for a home in Paris."

"Ciel Phantomhive…sounds so familiar," the lady mused.

"I imagine he does," her groom-to-be declared, "he's been the talk of the town lately!"

Sebastian could tell immediately that his young master was getting immense amusement from this. The familiarity went far beyond an article in the paper, as the host supposed. And unlike her oblivious fiancé, Ms. Emery had no business affiliations or interest in England's affairs to even make her aware of Ciel's name. The only way she could possibly know the former earl's name, at the back of her mind, was from reading about his still-operating international toy company, Funtom.

Oh, society was entertainment all by itself after all. Even with his name still floating around Europe, they couldn't quite peg down who he was.

"If you'll excuse me, monsieur and mademoiselle," the late earl said, "I think we've kept our dance partners waiting long enough."

The foolish host laughed. "Of course."

They effortlessly merged back into the crowd. The boy was mischievously smiling, rather freely despite his usual character. It seemed as if a gloom, for the moment, had lifted.

"I'm pleased to see you in such high spirits, young master."

"That was risky. I didn't expect to meet her personally. Now that he's seen me simultaneously with her, without a group to at least provide us with a few scapegoats, it would be foolish to arrange a meeting after this dance is over."

Sebastian was confused by the context of what his young master was saying, compared to the smile on his face. Sadistic. Plotting. Chilling. The young lord at his best. Where was that throat peeking through the lace?

"We shall have to meet with her once talk of this ball fades away. I have to be a dim memory in her groom's mind before I can proceed."

Ah, he almost chuckled again. Who knew an innocent young boy could turn into this calculating machine? But then again, that's what he always enjoyed so much about Ciel Phantomhive.

* * *

As the young demon cleverly managed his time until his next meal, he and Sebastian did some investigating. He had been one hell of a watchdog, after all.

"Julie Emery, fiancée to Arthur Conwell, daughter of Mr. Daniel and Elizabeth Emery. Youngest of three sisters and one brother, the latter of which is a wealthy banker by the name of Edward Strauss. By marrying Sir Arthur, it unites two successful families. But she also loves him."

"What makes you think so, my lord?"

"I could tell when he proposed on the stairs. You can always tell."

It was silent. Again, Sebastian began to guess he was thinking of his own fiancée. His master was becoming quite sentimental of late, and needless to say, it was unsettling.

"They don't yet live together, but plan to share the mansion in Lyon after their vows are made. Rumor has it that they are going to honeymoon in Rome, but this isn't certain. What is important is where to find her before they depart."

"She has her own modest manor with her two sisters, in her hometown Malakoff," Sebastian added. "She is a virtuous, religious woman, and also has many talents in music and art. In this, she is the envy of her immediate family."

The young lord smiled. "Who wouldn't be envious of such a soul? We will find her in the manor while it is dark and quiet, when all chances of suspicion are gone. And we will be careful not to wake the rest of her family."

* * *

When Ciel Phantomhive set a goal for himself or the queen, he devoted his entire will to the cause. If he needed another factory built, then he would stop at nothing to get the property. If a criminal needed to be brought to justice, he wouldn't rest until the rat was caught. If he desired chocolate cake before lunch, then by the powers of Hell, he would get it one way or the other.

Julie Emery was no exception.

Their footsteps were undetectable to human ears as they walked across the lawn from the woods. Crickets sang in the trees. The air was warm and humid, but it felt good. The makings of a thunderstorm sounded in the distance as the thunder rumbled like a great cat. Once or twice, Ciel paused just to listen to it.

The young master lifted his hand and pointed to a specific window. It was dark.

"The scent is coming from that room, isn't it?"

"I believe so, my lord." The butler smiled and picked his master up from the ground, then did the impossible thing of walking up the wall. Ciel didn't look down once, but instead fixed his eyes on the window and, when they reached it, he peered inside.

Dark. Quiet. Underneath the covers, she slept, turned away from the window. The sheets steadily rose and fell with her every breath. For a demon, it was a sight to behold.

In Sebastian's arms, Ciel grasped the windowsill and tugged upwards. It opened for them, to his surprise, and he silently eased himself into the room. Sebastian followed with the same fluid grace, and he shut the window behind him, lest the thunder get too loud and wake her up before his master had his chance.

The room was cooler, and drier, and filled with the perfume of her soul. Both demons were smacked across the face with it. Sebastian kept himself in check while his master, as if in a trance, approached the bed.

The thunder struck at that moment – a loud, crackling followed by a roar that shook the room under their feet. Julie's eyes sprang open and she clutched the covers to her chin. As she turned around, she saw the two strangers in the darkness of the bedroom, and jumped.

Before she could scream, Ciel clamped his petite hand over her mouth. She immediately recognized him. Of course. Who could forget him? And as she recognized him, she recognized the tall dark figure at the window at the same time.

"Have you forgotten my lesson so soon, young master?"

"No." He knew he should take her before she started struggling, but he was waiting for it. He wanted her to struggle. Such a soul should put up a fight. He wanted to grapple with it, feel the risk of discovery.

She spoke underneath his hand. Her voice made his palm tingle. He let her speak.

In a shrill whisper of recognition, she said, "Ciel Phantomhive, owner of the Funtom Company! You... You were pronounced dead!"

The former earl smiled down at her. "Of course I was. It's not the first time that the world assumed that. I am happy that you at least recognize me."

"My lord, I must suggest that you do this quickly, before –"

"That isn't like you, Sebastian. You are always one to take your time with important things, except when it involves dogs."

"Your name is at stake now, young master. Devour it before someone comes."

The woman was hopelessly confused, and horrified. Then she started struggling, as Ciel wanted. She scrambled backwards on the bed, twisting the sheets, trying to get on her feet without taking her eyes off them. The young demon flew to enclose her in his arms with preternatural strength, and violently opened his mouth to hers. He sucked the life clean out of her body in the most indulgent of swallows.

On the other side of the room, Sebastian bowed his head and gripped the windowsill. The sound of his master's throat moving echoed in his ears. The scent of the soul spilled through the air and collided with the scent of him, and it was almost more than he could bear. The thunder rumbled. The young woman gave forth a small, struggled hiccup of a scream, before her back arched up under the young demon. And the last of her was gone, nothing left behind but the pretty shell of Arthur's fiancée.

Her body dropped. The boy heaved a sigh as if he had been holding his breath for an eternity, bangs covering his glowing eyes. His breathing was heavy as he slid off the mess of a bed and onto his feet.

Sebastian concealed a swallow. "What of the blood, my lord? She isn't yet empty."

"We'll leave it untouched," he huffed. "It will look like a murder if there is any type of wound. Would you come here? You act as if you've seen a ghost."

Slowly and cautiously, the butler drifted away from the window to his young master, who leaned against the mattress, trying to catch his breath. "Remake the bed," he ordered. "And arrange her as she was before we entered."

The older demon bowed his head and commenced with it. He couldn't escape the two scents. The one of the woman was now faint, gone into his young master. Ciel's very essence seemed to grow with size and was harder to avoid. His presence demanded attention. Though now a demon, his soul had never been quite as mouthwatering as it was now. While it stirred to absorb the nutrients of the meal, the boy's demonic instincts were plainly brought out into the open for the butler to observe. Sebastian peeked at the back of his master more than once as he fixed the blankets.

The woman's eyes were shut with a pass of his glove.

The young lord was staring out the window. By that time, it had begun to rain. The drops hit the glass in buckets. Lightning lit up his front and made him a dark silhouette.

"For once, I get to walk headfirst into a storm without fear of catching a cold," the boy mused. He grinned to himself and swung the window open. Without waiting for the aid of his butler, he leapt out the window.

Sebastian's eyes widened and he rushed to look down at the ground. His master stood there, staring up at him with that devious smile he was beginning to really love. He returned the smile and exited the manor in the same fashion, tails of his coat floating behind him. He hit the ground without a sound, and wordlessly scooped Ciel back up before dashing through the trees.


	4. When Restless, Go Explore

**Chapter IV: When Restless, Go Explore**

* * *

Two earthbound demons, locked together until the end of time. What were they to do, really, except cause mayhem while keeping themselves innocent in the eyes of the public? How else were they to have fun?

 _To Sir Arthur Conwell,_

 _My deepest sympathies go to you in this time of darkness. Truly, you and your fiancée didn't deserve this separation. If you should ever need me for anything, don't hesitate to ask._

 _Ciel Phantomhive_

"Didn't deserve it, my lord?"

The young Phantomhive stared down at the letter on his desk. "They didn't." With little effort, he swiftly folded the piece of paper and placed it in the envelope. Then, with his new signet ring, pressed down the red liquid onto the flap. The seal resembled an elegant pair of crossbones, decidedly similar to what the Undertaker would have used.

"Do you feel regret?"

Ciel smiled up at him. "Not this time. I'm simply saying that they didn't deserve it. I hardly knew them, really. But that didn't stop me." He handed the letter to Sebastian, which the butler hid in his breast pocket. The boy lounged back in his seat, looking quite luxurious.

"And you? Do you still regret not ending the contract sooner?"

Sebastian sighed gracefully. "Yes. I still feel some regret."

"Of course." Ciel's eyes became distant, fixed on something intangible. The butler intently observed his face, pondering once again what the boy's throat would feel like against his bare fingers, against his teeth. The pain was terribly sharp, and it was a miracle Ciel didn't detect it.

"You have nothing close to a soul in that body?" the boy asked suddenly.

The older demon couldn't help but smile, so he bowed his head in an attempt to conceal it. "No, young master. I am but a fellow fiend of Hell."

"But what are you _made of_?"

"Darkness, consciousness, and flesh."

This was a strangely disturbing statement to the boy's ears, and yet it was exciting. It seemed that he learned a little more every day. He stood up. "If what you say is true, then I am made up of the same things, with just one extra ingredient." Without looking at the desk, Ciel pushed some papers aside. Then he gestured to the cleared surface. "Sit, Sebastian. Your constant standing makes me restless."

Always lying, and ever more surprising. Sebastian obeyed, and languidly sat on the desk, hands resting at his sides as there was nothing to occupy them with. He didn't dare to say that from this point of view, his young master was almost eye-to-eye with him. He also couldn't find the purpose for this unexpected order, but he didn't complain.

Then his young master began reaching out for him. His small, petite hand made contact with Sebastian's collar. The butler's eyes widened slightly. This is exactly what he had been thinking of moments ago. Slowly, the young demon pulled back the collar to reveal the pale flesh of the butler's throat.

"Young m –"

"Your collar was astray, butler. Learn how to dress."

"I apologize."

Ciel smiled lazily at the older demon and retreated a pace. "For which?"

Sebastian briefly blinked in confusion. He began to stand when Ciel put out a hand to keep him fixed to the desk.

"Do you apologize for looking disheveled, or for staring at my neck for the past half hour? Ah, don't pretend. You've been toying with the idea of bringing me harm lately!"

The butler put a hand to his heart. "I apologize for both," he assured the young lord, denying nothing. He lowered his eyes and tried to look as sincere as he could possibly manage, until Ciel launched forward at his throat.

The butler gave no cry of pain, but squared his jaw and trembled under the pressure. This wasn't the first time a demon had taken advantage of him like this, after all. That it was the young master at fault this time was just a small surprise. Teeth designed for tearing apart the invisible bit down on his flesh hard; a tongue formed to sample even the subtlest flavor became, by a human's standard's at least, unnervingly sensual.

Contrary to what the young lord might think, it was another small victory for Sebastian. His master did not have the composure to resist after all. In the end, he was just a fellow fiend of Hell, and a bloodthirsty one at that. A sadistic and satisfied grin spread across the butler's face, concealed by his dark hair as he caved inward. He clutched at his master's shirt greedily. To spite all of the terms and boundaries of their contract, he held his master to him, demon to demon, prolonging the sensation for as long as he could without making it too obvious. His breath left in one long delicious whoosh as his master's knee dug into him, and it was before long that he felt crushed, against the laws of physics, to the small boy.

But such a feeling couldn't last forever. Ciel's teeth slid out like a viper's venomous fangs after a conquest. He exhaled sharply. His grip on Sebastian loosened. Huffing and puffing and enclosed in the warmth of his butler, he stared at the wound he had just inflicted with his lips dripping rubies. The boy finally noticed the butler's hands twisted in his shirt, then he righted himself.

What passed between them next was quite comical. Sebastian quickly released his former prey in time for said former prey to straighten his posture. They measured each other – stared each other down – and both were without any ideas as to what to do about what had just happened between them.

The little Phantomhive cleared his throat in a stately manner and, pretending as if he didn't have his lips coated in blood, walked around his desk to sit back down in his rightful office chair.

The butler rose from the desk and stood erect, astonished to find his master's mouth suddenly licked clean, and even more astonished to find his own collar stained red.

"With your permission, master, I should like to excuse myself and fix this."

The boy nodded and turned his head away in a brief blush of shame. His butler left the room abruptly. Ciel heaved a sigh and felt his lips with his fingers, with his tongue. He mulled over the taste, how shocking it was to sample something not of earth. Not of earth at all. This wasn't a human's blood on his tongue. He was a demon and he had all but snacked on another demon!

He shut his eyes and scolded himself. Demon or not. He was the master, and Sebastian was his butler. He made the orders, he did what he wanted when he wanted. That was their relationship according to the contract.

The contract would always be there.

They would always be chained together.

Ah…what did always mean? What did forever mean? Was he really going to be like this, day, after day, after day, after…

It was starting again, that giant black hole in his gut.

The young demon hung his head and put his hands to his ears, vaguely aware his servant was back. He caved in upon himself, taking ragged breaths, eyes behind his eyelids rolling back and forth to find some kind of escape within his own head. _There was just this!_ His new home, his new success, his new identity. It began all over again, the terrible struggle to find some kind of meaning that he felt he could never create for himself. And blast it, it wasn't good enough to be here. Nothing seemed good enough to fill this hole!

"Oh my," Sebastian calmly began. "Are you feeling well, master?"

"Shut up! Just…shut up. You…" Ciel looked up from his hands to his butler. They quietly stared at each other again. He gritted his teeth together. "I can't blame you for anything!"

"Sir?"

"I can't blame you for how I am. The only thing I can blame you for, is – is… not ending the contract sooner. I thought I had my revenge once, when we destroyed the monastery! You could have done away with me then!"

"I could not, my lord. Your revenge _wasn't_ completed then."

"You should have done it _then_ , Sebastian!" He covered his face with his hands, bangs falling over his fingers in disarray. "Before all of this rot happened, before the angel, before I forgot everything. That's the only thing I can blame you for. It's Hannah's fault I'm alive right now, or – or Claude's. But… everyone who did me wrong is dead. You, who have only ever wronged me once, you are the last person left with me. And you're not even a person. Damn it all."

Sebastian was silent and composed.

"Life just…isn't fair."

"My lord, you are not yourself. You were born an earl, wealthy beyond most people's wildest dreams, and you had two perfect parents. You were betrothed. You were the heir to an empire just by _being born_."

"What are you trying to say?" Ciel spat.

"Merely that you forget everything good that you had in life. I wouldn't go so far as to say that life isn't fair to you." Sebastian smiled down at his little master. "And I may not be a person, but I am a most effective weapon."

"I have no longer have a need for such a weapon if everyone is already dead!"

"Is this what troubles you most? Perhaps we should find a new target."

Ciel took fistfuls of his hair and bit his lip in a most uncharacteristic way. "This is terrible. I hate these emotions. Make it stop!"

The butler felt powerless, suddenly. He didn't know what these things felt like, feeling so human, but his master was obviously suffering agonies. He did the only thing he knew he could do for sure in this situation; he removed his glove and thrust his wrist at his young master's mouth.

Ciel gnawed deep without any restraint whatsoever. Sebastian shuddered helplessly, but smiled just the same. If this was the quickest medicine – provoking his master's demon instincts – then so be it. It wasn't as if he would feel physically weak. In fact, it felt all too good. If he was not careful, he would perhaps become addicted to this. And the boundaries of their contract would be twisted and bent beyond recognition.

Ciel withdrew, a tremble overtaking his body for a moment or two. He licked his mouth clean and observed that his butler's eyes were alive with color. Smiling, the boy murmured his gratitude to the older demon.

Sebastian returned the grin and brushed his master's bangs into place. "I never thought I would have the privilege to see prey become such a predator," he stated.

The boy straightened up a second time, still a bit dazed from his incessant snacking. After collecting himself, he mumured, "I want to travel back to the underworld now. I want to meet another demon, like us."

"Sir, most of us are very solitary creatures, not to mention vicious. It would be difficult to get to know one as well as we know each other."

"I'm Ciel Phantomhive. You're Sebastian Michaelis. It will not be difficult. Just tell me something. Are they all like Claude Faustus?"

"Everyone is different, but unfortunately, the one thing that we all have in common is our priority: souls. Some act as if they have other things to do, but," his grin grew wide and treacherous, "that's all that matters, in the end. We are predators first and foremost by nature."

"Is that so? Then tell me, how is it that Claude seemed to know you so well?"

"My lord?"

"You two were not strangers. I deduced that when I was human."

"Personally, I did not know him. But everyone knows me, my lord."

"Oh? Now I see." Ciel's head tilted. "You opted that we come to the human realm so you could get away from all your friends. We go straight back, then. Tonight."

"Wasn't it your opinion that Hell is dull?"

"It was. But now I realize that it was only because you kept everyone away from us. I'll give it a second try. After all, it's where we're supposed to be."

* * *

It was dark, and smelled of firewood, just as he remembered it. They arrived in a small parlor covered over with dark wooden panels around the perimeter. The carpet was a plush olive green, and stopped at a stone slab that belonged to a grand and roaring fireplace.

"Where do demons spend most of their time here?" Ciel asked.

"In the darkest places, my lord."

"It's a wonder you have fireplaces and candles. Show me."

They walked through corridor after corridor, all made of stone. Alcoves in the rock were cut out to display various skulls. The ceiling, despite Ciel's better judgment, looked damp, like the top of a moist cave where you'd find bats. Their footsteps echoed and made it sound as if there were more than the two of them walking along, and sure, there probably was.

There was music. It was beautiful on the one hand, and diabolical on the other, comprised of the notes of a piano and violin. A great room emerged from the darkness, coated in black marble and sporting a fresco of lively dancing figurines on the ceiling. A register of black stucco gargoyle-like cupids separated the wall from the fresco. There was a single, dimly lit chandelier in the center of the room.

Along the floor, there danced at least a hundred tall and elegant figures, all clad in black and white. The instruments in question were being played by two musician demons on a raised platform on the far east side of the room. The swirling movements of these figures made it seem as if it was one large mass of a creature dancing, something like an incorporeal cloud of ink. The only color in the room was in the various sets of unblinking eyes.

"May I have this dance?" a woman demon asked Sebastian. She was obviously and intentionally trouble; her eyes were lined in black, hair pinned up, and there were various bite marks around her throat and shoulders even now visibly healing. She mischievously waited for his answer.

"If my master wishes it."

She cupped the back of his skull and brought his head down so their eyes would lock and become flame up. Ciel stared with half disgust, half astonishment. "Go ahead, Sebastian. One dance."

He bowed his head to his master, smiled, and let himself be pulled into the swarm of graceful demons. Though it was really just the crowd parting for his entrance, it was as if the darkness itself opened its arms to receive him. The woman snagged his waist and whispered in his ear, and then he was lost in the crowd and concealed from Ciel.

Now, Ciel Phantomhive was once a human being, and a unique one at that. It was no coincidence that he was a unique demon too. He was young, and beautiful, and the eye candy for many in the room as demons twirled past him. It seemed that being so young was not the worst thing in the world here. Rather, it was one of the best things to be. His presence offered something new to an otherwise old and dreary atmosphere. And perhaps the scent of his chained soul still lingered as well.

A young girl appeared from the mass of suits and dresses. She was quite possibly the loveliest young woman Ciel had ever beheld, and she looked directly at him with a smile that didn't seem to belong on her face. It seemed a few older demons approved of her branching away to grasp his hands. "Ciel Phantomhive, I am Marie Levontre. Dance with me."

Her eyes reminded him of the fireplace. Her dark hair was thick and lustrous, carefully wound into a bun that allowed for a few tresses to lie on her pale bare shoulder.

She was not like Lizzy, he supposed. She did not giggle. She did not just smile for anything, nor did she have any desire to blind people with flashy colors. She was dressed elegantly in dark shades, and perhaps not as modestly as his cousin would have dressed – but that was past. This was the present, he told himself. With annoying hesitation suppressed, he took her hand and followed her into the swarm. Again, he felt the darkness was alive. It gave him entrance with wide arms, and then closed around him. Silly, but he could almost feel it against his back as if surveying him.

So this was the demon realm.

Marie brought his hands around her and they took the first step together. She smiled, almost sweetly, and twined her hands around his neck. Her fingers were cold and refreshing, and before long he was dancing with all his heart, following the music's voice. For the record, he didn't stumble once.

One dance. Two dances. Three dances. Four dances later, master and butler retreated from the crowd to the outskirts of the room. Ciel leaned against the wall and bowed his head. He wanted to make a comment about how much fun he was having, but there was someone he noticed first.

Another woman pressed Sebastian against the wall and was at his throat. The butler looked surprised for the shortest second, but he waited until she left rather than try to push her away. Ciel gave him a funny look, to which he grinned and put a hand on his heart.

"You're covered in blood, Sebastian."

"Am I, sir? Oh, my." As if he had just noticed, he felt the collection of wounds on his throat. There were a few precious drops on his lips that he made quick work of. "You looked as if you were enjoying yourself, my lord."

"I am," the young demon admitted. "I haven't had this much fun in ages." Hesitantly, he brought his fingers up to his eye patch, and removed it to put it in his pocket. He crossed his arms and observed the crowd with two radiant eyes.

"You're quite the ladies man, Sebastian."

"I'm humbled, master," the older demon smiled. "I, too, am enjoying myself. I am a person here."

Ciel nodded distantly.

The woman with black-rimmed eyes came forward again. At first, they thought she would ask for another dance, but it was clear she was after something else. She leaned against the wall next to Sebastian, eyes a smoldering fuchsia.

"I heard you killed Claude Faustus," she murmured.

Ciel's eyebrows furrowed.

"Indeed," Sebastian answered. "I did."

"And his companions too."

"I did." He offered her a small smile, to which she took his hand and played idly with his fingers.

"Five demons, in one day. Truly an accomplishment. What was it like? What did you kill him for?"

Sebastian Michaelis, like Ciel Phantomhive, was no ordinary demon. He had a will that was unmatched in the demon realm. This will amplified his aura and attracted far too many people for his own good. He also had far more patience than most, and was more willing to find loopholes in his master's orders than any other demon. And, though it didn't show, he was very old and had been part of the dark forces far longer than most of the people in that ballroom. This was a little secret that he kept to himself.

"I killed him for my master," he replied simply. "As well as the others."

"Is your master that important to you?"

"He is," Ciel interrupted. He flashed his mismatched eyes on the woman, who seemed to absorb their color and the chained soul that they harbored. Though Ciel Phantomhive was shorter, it seemed to make no difference in his kingly stare. The woman took a step back before righting herself.

"Half-wit," she hissed. And she vanished.

He traced the crowd for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Despite himself, he was a little shaken. "Sebastian," he whispered. "Is it dangerous that she knows I was human?"

His butler searched for a good answer. "Perhaps, but you are no longer human. No one can get to the soul within your body as long as it is under our peculiar contract, no matter how much one tries."

"Tries?"

"Why, yes. As long as such a soul exists, there will be those who try to get to it, be it flowering in a human's body or chained in a demon's form." The butler fixed his master's tie.

"Do you mean to tell me that I am in danger of having my throat ripped out, and you're allowing this risk?"

"You asked to see one of Hell's darkest places, young master. You are never in any danger as long as I serve you. Remember that wielding a weapon allows you to venture anywhere you want."

Ciel met his eyes. This answer didn't satisfy him. "That woman _ran_ from me. If I am in such danger, why does it look like you have received enough bite marks for the both of us, instead? Just what makes you so special?"

What an amusing question. If he had been willing to withstand a slap across the face, the butler would have made a comment about the young Phantomhive being jealous. Ironically, he thought, it was just the opposite. He put together another answer quickly. "Of the two of us, you are a stranger sight to behold, my lord. Those demons that value their lives keep their distance. Then, there are those who flock to danger to prove themselves, like Marie."

"Like Marie," the boy echoed, thinking it over. He squared his shoulders. He smiled, even almost laughed. "This place isn't as dull as I thought!"


	5. When Curious, Don't Admit It

**Chapter V: When Curious, Don't Admit It**

* * *

"My mother used to pray before she went to sleep," Ciel Phantomhive murmured to his butler, as he stared at the monstrous bed against the wall. "It just occurred to me that she would wish for me to do the same right now. So would my father. Yet I have no desire to. Perhaps when I was alive, I would sometimes feel obligated to do what they taught me – but now it's different."

The devilish butler smiled, on the other side of the room. He was silently tending to his own shirt, observing the severity of the bloodstains on his collar, thinking to himself that this had been happening to his uniform far too often for his taste. He made up his mind to stop abiding by others' lewd advances, unless his master ordered otherwise.

"With all due respect to your parents, young master, it may be that they aren't wishing for you to pray right now, or wishing anything for you at all, given that you are hardly still their child. In the great scheme of things, this transformation you have undergone has placed you on opposite sides of the proverbial chess board."

The child demon scoffed. "Great scheme of things? You're the one who taught me that there is no 'great scheme,' or higher purpose, or even a God. Yes, my parents and I might be far apart, but as far as I am concerned, the chessboard has been torn clear off the table. No one can assume now that the moves I make are for the sake of my parents. I can now do anything and everything for the sake of myself."

The statement was so childishly selfish, that Sebastian wanted to chuckle. In fact, a full laugh had been denied him for decades. He let a small one loose, under his breath, so as not to be disrespectful.

"I wonder though, why … why this independence doesn't make me happy." He sat down on the bed, still marveling at its size.

Now this statement left the butler surprised. Ciel Phantomhive wasn't a soul that hoped for happiness. Their contract was originally motivated by satisfaction, by vengeance, by hatred. But never happiness. Sebastian couldn't help but speak his mind. "Perhaps when we formed our contract, you could have been more specific if you wanted me to make you happy. It would have saved so much heartache," he cooed.

Ciel's eyes snapped to the sharp profile of his servant, anger in his stare. "Don't be ridiculous. I never specified that your responsibility was making me happy because I didn't _want_ it." He lounged back in his chair, eyes trained on his servant's cleaning efforts. That was Sebastian's blood, Sebastian's, all of it, staining the flawless collar. "Besides, I felt that you would prefer to make me miserable on the way to getting my revenge. You never lied to me about what you really are: a cold, deceitful, calculating beast who would rather watch its meal squirm for years before devouring it."

"I'm flattered, my lord," he replied smoothly. "That is all too true. To steep your young soul in darkness and hopelessness only enhances the final flavor. Too much happiness would have merely dulled it."

Ciel grinned. "But you've slipped up. Our contract did not cancel out my joy. I have in fact been happy once and awhile after meeting you."

Sebastian wasn't as surprised to hear this, but his curiosity was peaking. He kept at dabbing his shirt, vaguely frustrated that the stains would need more work. "Oh? Would you indulge me, master, with an answer as to when?"

The boy gritted his teeth. "I'll indulge you with a slap, if you continue to speak to me like that. Don't forget your place."

"My apologies." But the smile never left, of course. A teasing child one minute, a flippant master the next. Perhaps he was supposed to feel that he was treading on shaky ground, but he had no such feeling.

"I was happy when I named you Sebastian, because I got to name a man after my dog. I was happy whenever you brought me the food that I asked for, and happy when you briefly shared in my distaste for Elizabeth's dressing up the manor. In short, whenever you seemed to possess more character than any other human being I knew, I was entertained."

"Ah, whenever I became another person. How kind of you."

"I've told you a hundred times, I am not kind. I was just happy that my lessons on passing for human were learned. You were not an easy student, Sebastian." He removed his jacket and tossed it to the butler, who caught it behind his back.

The butler turned around to view his master in the warm light of the candles. "Whatever our contract was before, the terms have changed. Now, I'm unable to take pride in making you unhappy," Sebastian murmured, "because I live now to please you, and to keep you alive. In fact, should you perish, my life now would be without purpose. It's strictly the standard role of a butler."

The young master smiled again. "Aside from the lack of purpose, too, you'd wither away with hunger, hm?"

"Perhaps," the butler countered. "I wouldn't resemble myself and would probably go into a state of unbearable torment without the presence of your soul. But as a reaper once deduced, I am already 'half-mad' with hunger."

In heavy silence, the little earl considered this with a grave face. He wasn't all that hungry himself, so he couldn't really understand the implications of what Sebastian meant. He didn't yet know what it felt like to be ravenous. But if it was anything like the feeling of human starvation, he imagined that Sebastian was currently in a terrible amount of pain. His curiosity won out, and he asked, "If you were able, would you break the contract and be done with me now?"

"I cannot answer easily," the butler admitted, eyebrows coming down in a sign of concentration. He circled the room, observing the wardrobe and inspecting it for dust with his gloved fingers. His face looked smooth and just barely human, as did his graceful neck under the fresh white shirt. "The amount of all of my efforts tells me that I should end it. According to the standards of other demons, I've cultivated your soul for far too long not to be rewarded with your death. But, if there is anything I've learned about myself after all these years, I hate to be bored. And I'd be bored for a very long time. If you were to be gone for good, that is."

Even though Ciel didn't look pleased, he remarked, "I enjoyed that answer."

"I knew you would. Master, pardon my saying so, but you speak more freely with me now than ever before. Why is that?"

"We do not speak freely," he denied hotly, twisting the blanket under his petite pale hand. "You're imagining things. Just because I ask a few questions to satisfy my curiosity, you get all friendly. Stop it."

Though he cherished the confession that his master was curious about him, the demon butler decided to let silence take over the dark, cozy room. He wanted it to last. The presence of his master made him burn inside, burn like flames were trying to eat him away from under his skin. His throat throbbed too, as if it was the boy who had inflicted the wounds (he almost wished that were true).

Long ago, he had figured out that the only way to cope with the pain of hunger was to detach himself from it, but now it was hard to separate himself from the feeling. The crushing desire for that soul sitting there on the bed! Ah, that small, delicate throat… Preserved for all time by another demon, unintentionally to Sebastian's satisfaction. What would be the extent of the consequences, he wondered, if he were to indulge himself just once? Just a… small play bite? Would it not be a million times better than at the wrist he had been offered? Sebastian's left hand trembled with the thought of holding the young master to his mouth.

Ciel Phantomhive was no fool. He could detect all this. It also went without saying that he would have found this behavior unacceptable if he were human. He eyed Sebastian with a level head, calculating what his exact thoughts were while at the same time testing his composure. Apparently, the young demon surmised, keeping a calm face in the midst of such temptation was the butler's greatest talent. That is, if his soul was as desirable as Sebastian claimed.

The man continued to dab at his collar for good measure. When he felt it was safe to stop his task, he dropped the shirt and rag on the wardrobe, turned, and faced his adorable master without betraying his inner struggle. He thought that it would probably be best to dismiss himself for the night, but, he had to ask.

"If you would, my lord, answer me this. Is it in your plans to deny me the ultimate flavor for the rest of eternity?"

"Perhaps," the boy smirked. "Was once not enough for you?"

It was too late before the older demon realized he had licked his lips. His mind didn't easily wander. But it drifted now to their journey to Ciel's would-be resting place, that dark and desolate space where the birds lingered to pick at the leftovers of souls. He replayed in his mind that moment that he had almost devoured his soul – almost ripped it to shreds. He had planned to wrench it full force, mercilessly, from the boy's mouth, and taste each and every individual particle. He had also been meaning to hear many lovely screams and deliberately draw blood.

But alas, his meal now stared at him without the slightest hint of fear. Such a ruthless soul, to his surprise once again, made him shudder. Few things did that to him. Very few things.

A beautiful, dastardly grin stole over Ciel's face. His eyes by now were a bright, undisguised magenta. It was already done, Sebastian thought, his master could see right through him and detect his desire. He had simply been observing it. He held out his hand to the demon butler, palm upturned. It wasn't long before his servant crossed the room to him.

"Sebastian Michaelis, I've caused you so much pain and enjoyed it." The butler's eyes lit up to match his master's instantly. "I have found my guilt, and I despise it. So, before I change my mind… Follow your instincts to help me dispose of this, immediately."

If tasting his young master's soul helped him get rid of his unnecessary human emotions, than the butler was all too happy to oblige. But, to be courteous… "Are you certain, my lord?"

The boy snatched the butler's tie and yanked it down so they were bright eye to bright eye. "Don't you dare make me repeat myself, fiend."

There was the beautiful cue. Truly, this order was a priceless treasure. Rarely if ever did the young master let him act of his own accord. He would both savor and prolong the command for as long as he could and, to do that, he couldn't bring serious harm into the picture.

But just what was serious harm to a demon of his young master's size? What was the breaking point? He itched to find out.

He removed his gloves in his own trademark way and dropped them at his master's feet. The hunger for but a taste was a fiery fist in his gut. It was plausible that satisfaction was unreachable, that this would merely cause him more pain like the first attempt. That would be disappointing. If Sebastian had ever wished for his own wellbeing before, this was it. The boy was going to make him mad! Oh, but what point was there in dwelling on it? This was about his young master, not himself.

His sharp teeth winked from beneath his parted lips, just menacing enough to make humans glance twice. He trailed a sharp nail down the sleeve of his master's shirt, then down the exposed arm. Ciel stifled a cry. The butler all but shivered at the sound. _That's it._ He hauled the boy up into his embrace, feeling the small weight of no more than a doll against his chest. He crushed his frail body to him, felt the heartbeat, felt the lungs work, the veins. To think that this was his prey, even if he wasn't human anymore. So small and delicate and immaculate.

The young master bit his lip as Sebastian raked another nail down his jawline. His tongue flicked to it, his breath unrestrained, heavy and hot. The former earl went weak, legs dangling off the floor. His boot nudged Sebastian's leg. As the skin of his throat was broken, the poor boy's eyes rolled and shut. The butler yanked at the essence, intending to take in every ounce that he could withstand. Black feathers rained down and caressed their faces. Their breathing hitched.

He tried to feast to his heart's content. But no, he felt he couldn't take it all in. He wasn't able to make that fatal, head spinning swallow that would mean the end. The soul was lodged there. To prove it to himself, Sebastian went the direct route, placing his mouth over the young master's. The boy's eyes shot open at this at this change of pace. Sebastian wrenched at the soul imbedded within Ciel's small body. _Ah!_ He could taste it there again. His hand dug into his master's back. Intolerable.

The boy's lips smiled under Sebastian's, as if to tease, _you can't have it,_ and he opened his mouth wide to the floodgate of darkness that was his servant. This had proved everything to Ciel. That they were more than fond of each other. That he wasn't a child anymore. And that he was truly, utterly locked to his human soul. With every pull he felt on it, he was human for the briefest of moments. Until now, his hands had hung limp from his sides – but the boy, warming up to both this reassuring sensation and the warmth of his butler's prison, reached up to grab a fistful of Sebastian's black hair.

The butler pulled back in surprise. He was even more shocked to find that Ciel looked irritated with this, his eyes a florescent pink. In them he could see himself and everything he had ever done for this tiny master, all of the work he had put into cultivating that succulent taste. He also noted the proximity of their bodies and the bed.

"…Are you finished?" the younger demon asked, showing little evidence that he was in pain from the exertion.

"Never, my lord."

"Then try again, coward."

The older demon smiled wickedly and dove into his mouth again, luring the soul out with all his might. Ciel's knee went into his stomach but he held tight, hands crushing him as if to force it out, prying, prying… _Ah!_

"You taste it!" Ciel hissed, somehow delighted. "I can feel that. But can you pry it lose in time to bite it?" This time, he collided his mouth with the other demon, feeling the sharp teeth scrape against his tongue. With his entire being, he reached out and beckoned.

Sebastian met the leaping soul and captured it in its ascent. He couldn't believe it, but his entire body swooned at the intoxication of it. He felt it graze his teeth in time for him to puncture it. While his master let out a lovely cry, strained like a puppet on a string, he surrounded the soul and savored its taste as he had never done to any other. He breathed it, smelled it, sampled it, infected it with his own darkness. He let its essence fill him in succulent waves as the life in his young master's eyes danced perilously.

The breath left Ciel. Sebastian took it in happily and mulled over the sweetness of his exhaustion. As he withdrew his lips, tingling all over, the soul plummeted back into his young master's frame, just as it felt like it was sucked clean of Sebastian. The harshness of it ran a shiver through Ciel's body. A soundless echo bounced off the walls, a confirmation of their binding contract.

"Sebas...tian…" the young lord whispered. He waited for the eye contact of his butler before continuing. "You're shaking like a leaf."

The whisper sounded so good that he fancied he could taste the soul in that as well. He could taste the soul by embracing him, hell, just by _looking_ at him. That taste would always be lingering now on the tip of his tongue. No one else would ever get it.

The fiend leisurely brought blood from his master's throat to his lips, until his fingers dripped with it. "Am I, sir?"

"Tell me how far you got," Ciel insisted, as if this was a mission assigned by the Queen.

"…I bit it. It flooded my mouth."

"Is it enough now? I'm losing strength." His head fell backward onto something soft. "What is this…? Oh, sleep. I would like that. Turn off…turn off the blasted light."

"I'd like nothing better, myself." The candles blew out instantaneously.

"This darkness… makes me wonder how I have ever been in the afternoon sun," the demon boy murmured, too tired to even think about what had just taken place. All he could feel was the softness swallowing his form. "It's warm here, but not scorching. I belong. For once."

"I'm pleased to hear it, master."

The boy's senses were so melded together, that his butler seemed to _be_ this softness, and this darkness around him. But he knew better. "Are you tired, Sebastian?"

The soft inquiries were one pleasant shock after another. "Yes," the servant confessed. "If ever there was a time I desired to sleep, it is now."

The boy sighed. "Indulge yourself then, just this once. And don't forget I allowed this because – I'm not going to allow it again."

They felt each other smile. "As you wish."


	6. When Lonely, Get Nostalgic

**Chapter VI: When Lonely, Get Nostalgic**

* * *

" _-Welcome to the Trancy Manor. Please, make yourself at home."_

 _"No, no, I told you I don't want to be here. I don't…"_

 _"Please, come, sit."_

 _"No! You can't make me – you can't make - NOO!"_

-~-"NO!"

"Young master!"

The former earl shook under the covers, clutching the blanket to his chin while his bright eyes danced frantically in his head. He breathed as if he had just run a marathon, and the butler couldn't help but wonder what his master's latest nightmare was about. As he had chosen to sleep beside him, witnessing the boy's waking up seemed even more alarming then coming into the room at the appropriate time.

Sadly, once again, Sebastian didn't know how to help the situation. He was at a loss, as he had never had nightmares himself and couldn't very well serve tea to calm the boy's nerves.

"I'm fine," Ciel mumbled, and lay back down on the blood-stained pillow before his butler could say anything. "Is it morning?"

"There is no time here, my lord."

The boy smiled a little. "It's no wonder why you were so attached to your pocket watch, eh?" He sighed, rose again, and stretched leisurely. He looked down at his clothes only to realize that he was somehow in his pajamas. He then met his butler eyes as if to ask, _now what?_

"Do you require breakfast?" the older demon asked.

Happy that he had asked, the younger demon replied in the affirmative with a small lick of his lips.

Most definitely, Ciel wanted breakfast. His hunger was amplified by the lack of life in his veins. He struggled to observe the sensation from a distance, of course, but it was exceedingly difficult. He could suddenly grasp how much pain his butler was in by simply going about his daily life.

 _No._ He couldn't stand for this…this…concern. Why wouldn't this guilt leave? He rushed out of bed and quite childishly whipped a pillow at the older demon's head. "Get off your arse, butler, we have an agenda today!"

Sebastian wasted no time in flying to the closet to dress his master, no comment on the apparent nightmare that he had woken from. He would have to inquire about it later.

"I want to see Elizabeth today," the boy grinned, as his hesitating servant fastened together the buttons on his crisp white shirt. The smart black jacket was held out over his shoulders for the boy to slip in his arms. "I want to see how she is doing now. Then we'll go catch breakfast."

"You must realize that you cannot have an audience with her, master." The butler was vaguely relieved that his young master did not intend to eat his late fiancée.

"I do realize this. But I'd like to see her face from behind a window. I want to know how much she misses me, really." He watched the top of Sebastian's head as he made the finishing touches to the outfit, including tying the signature bow around the former earl's neck.

"Are you fond of her, Sebastian?"

"Of course, my lord. It is in my opinion that she was a good match for you. Had you remained alive and human, the two of you would have had a long and happy marriage, and perhaps she would have brought back your long-lost smiles."

"Yes, a shame," the boy said indifferently. He felt the ribbon at his throat. "It surprises me that you care much at all."

"On the contrary, I don't. I'm happy that it's past." The butler smiled, privately victorious at his own comment, and rose to his full intimidating height. "Miss Elizabeth is a good human being. But she interfered with my own plans for you."

Another smile graced the master's lips. It was a privilege that Sebastian could make such a thing happen, as few beings could trigger a smile in him. The one puzzle for the older demon, though, was that no smile remained on his face for very long. The boy ended up sighing and returning to gloom, and the relaxation of his facial features became him like candlelight to a wineglass.

"Take me to the manor of Midford. And make it fast."

Sebastian took up his master into his arms as black feathers began to rain down. To normal human eyes, they disappeared, stirring nothing but the air of the room in their wake.

* * *

Once they hit human soil, the butler ran ahead toward their destination at full force, with the small pleasant weight of the boy curled up at his chest. The master kept his face out to view the blurred surroundings. Once or twice they chased down an automobile just for some entertainment, though neither of them thought of devouring the petty drivers. The boy mused that the panicked yells were like music to his ears.

The countryside was rolls of green hills in every direction, with a tree here and there. Ciel knew they were quickly nearing the manor of his ex-fiancée, and before both demons knew it the building emerged before them: a giant monster of a place that honestly didn't seem that "cute" by any standards (known to neither man nor noxious beast, anyway.)

It was tall, and grey, and the closest thing to a castle left to that region of the world. The outside was completely built of stone walls, most as deep as a tall man and impenetrable by any human means. They stopped at the outskirts of the property. While the butler halted short without consequences of gravity, the boy's body rushed forward in his arms with the same momentum that would take down a thick tree – luckily, Sebastian held him close in time before his young master or anything else was damaged.

Ciel heaved a sigh and gripped his servant's tie momentarily, before completely regaining his composure to stand on his own two feet. He observed the fortress with heavy-lidded eyes, as if he had forgotten his purpose for coming here. He scanned the tiny windows, searching for a glimpse of his previously betrothed.

"Perhaps we should get closer?" Sebastian suggested.

"This place has always scared me," the former earl mumbled. "I came here just once when I was little – before I met you. I remember it for its ugliness and the collections of weapons hanging on the walls. No, I don't want to get much closer."

"It doesn't seem very fitting for Lady Elizabeth. I find it hard to believe that she resides here."

"If she had her way, it would look very different," the boy assured him, and began to walk along the perimeter of the immense yard. All the while he kept his eyes roving over the windows. "This place is ugly," he muttered.

"It indeed explains why she loved visiting so much." The butler began to follow like a shadow, his eyes also trained on the immense structure, and hands at his sides. The place reeked of dogs – or, more specifically, big hunting dogs. Not only did Elizabeth's family master swordsmanship, but they enjoyed hunting as well.

Ciel inwardly sighed before cutting across the lawn, past a few grotesque fountains and statues. He wondered where she was. He had never seen where her room was before, nor did he know which part of the building she kept to for most of the day. The only thing the two of them could rely on were their sense of smell, and Ciel wasn't too happy about this. He was hungry, after all.

Suddenly, emerging from the woods, was an unwelcome sight: a tall red figure with the smile of a shark. The reaper's chainsaw hung at his side. He pushed a stray crimson hair away from his face and eyed the two demons, lingering a little too long on the tall one.

"You can't let her see you," Grell teased. "Our records would be thrown out of whack if someone dead was seen by someone living."

"I'm not concerned with your records," Ciel hissed, not bothering to give him his full attention. "And _for_ the record, we have already broken that rule." His only purpose here was to glance at his fiancée, to see how she was getting along without him in her life. The reaper shouldn't have taken him for a fool.

Sebastian glanced at Mr. Sutcliff. In that moment, the reaper winked at him, and the demon internally shuddered with disgust. He kept his distance, for what it was worth, while remaining at his master's heels as the ever-persistent shadow.

"I'm only the first to come," the reaper went on. "The longer you stay here, the more reapers will show up. And I want our time together to be private~."

 _For the love of…_ Ciel continued scanning the windows. As far as he was concerned, Sutcliff was Sebastian's problem at this point in time. He waved his hand to shoo them both. The butler stopped short, frustration in his eyes. He closed them, sighed, and faced the redheaded reaper while his master continued on.

"Have fun," Ciel uttered slyly, flashing a small smirk before returning to his task.

"Yes, my lord," was the quiet reply.

The electricity in the air was immediate.

"That is the single most exciting order I've ever heard him give you!" the reaper laughed. He pitched himself forward, the engine of his scythe revving alive, a streak of red cutting across the grass at the black butler. Sebastian was ready for the first attack – it was always the same from Grell, anyway, a horizontal arch through the air most often directed at his middle. He long ago reasoned that it was to rid him of the tailcoat.

He didn't have the time to dodge the second attack. It sliced through his first layer of clothing, revealing the vest underneath. He gritted his teeth, took one look at his indifferent master, and knew what the true intentions behind the order were:

 _Keep him busy, and keep him quiet._

The reaper raised the weapon, about to strike, and then – it came hurling down.

Sebastian caught the chainsaw between his hands in surprise. The reaper smiled up at him and, without warning, swung it backwards, raising the demon's arms over his head. In an instant the unimaginable happened. Grell snagged him around the waist, taking advantage of his moment of weakness, and their lips collided.

The reaper's heart exploded inside his chest. He couldn't tell for sure if this was because it was the best moment of his eternal life, or just because Sebastian's hand was pressed against his chest at full-blown force in an attempt to separate them.

Either way, he wouldn't let such a thing pass by him without savoring it. He bit the demon's bottom lip and Sebastian twitched, his blood being sampled against his will. His eyes flared to life before Grell's green orbs, and the reaper melted in the glare of their intensity. Absolutely _fine,_ those furious eyes~!

He plunged into it, holding to the demon with every ounce of might he could muster, dropping the grumbling chainsaw in the process, in favor of keeping attached. The demon's lips were unbelievably soft in their shock. He snagged his long delicious tongue between his teeth, felt its power to hypnotize and corrupt rolling through his very being. How long had he been waiting for this? Every particle of this man he held screamed seduction and danger. He locked Sebastian's head against his with his free arm and breathed in his spicy scent. For the life of him, he couldn't understand what William found so unappealing about it.

Strange, though, that he hadn't managed to separate them yet. In fact, he was beginning to think that separation wasn't what Sebastian wanted. The demon's lips were now firm, his brows coming together in determination and finally, his mouth stretched thin in the most dastardly of smiles. His hand slid up to Grell's bowtie and yanked it forward. His wicked teeth took a turn at piercing the reaper's tongue, the startled yelp immediate but muffled. When it was too late for regret, the reaper was trapped.

The tides turned. The deliberate sigh that came from Sebastian's lips was all-encompassing, breathing something into the reaper, a messenger of darkness that traveled through every vein and pore of Grell's body. It whispered constantly, _You see what you provoke?_

This was the kind of danger that the lewd grim reaper craved, and so, of course, it was expected that he embrace it. Sebastian realized this wouldn't destroy him as it would virtuous people. It would just shut him up for a while, which is exactly what his master wished. Poisoning somebody was just another weapon. First interpreted as ecstasy, it eventually ate at the mind until guilt was all that was left. He had perfected the method ages ago, his last successful test at the Noah's Arc Circus.

But that made it anything but boring. Poisoning the reaper was fun, almost as much fun as poisoning a human. He could practically forget that this was the redhead… in fact, pretend that this was his young master, that these were his yelps and moans.

The reaper finally slid to his knees and fell to the side.

While Sebastian looked down at him in satisfaction, any human beholding his face would have been utterly paralyzed at the ferocity there. Gradually, his eyes lost their fiery pink hue, and after a small lick of the lips, the butler was decent again. He went back to watch his master, who was by then on the other side of the perimeter.

* * *

 _Other reapers were going to come_ , the boy thought.

He didn't have much time if that freak had told the truth. His patience was growing thin, but the good news was that he knew Lizzy was somewhere in this part of the building. Her scent was familiar – that perfume she always wore mingled with that of her hair, the two things he really remembered about her since they were children. And besides that, he seemed to know the precise scent of her soul, even though this was the first time he encountered it. It was as if this part of her presence had always been there and he just never noticed it until now. It was like smelling her personality, almost.

He was shocked to know how sad she was. Her soul sang an awful, mournful song, though she completely concealed it from her family.

His head suddenly shot up to a particular window. Yes, she was there. He was certain. He glanced to Sebastian across the long distance, who quickly understood, and crossed the yard in a flash. Before long, they were both scaling the wall towards the window.

Ciel reached it first. He braced his body against the wall, turning only a little to peek into the room. Luckily, she was sitting at a bookshelf engrossed in a story.

Sebastian's stare was one of indifference, while the young master was fascinated. "I knew her," he whispered. "No. _I know her._ "

The young girl's shoulders went up and she appeared to crumple into herself. The book was thrown aside. She buried her face in her hands and her body was wracked with pitiful sobs.

Her fiancé gritted his teeth. "This isn't right. Where is her family when she needs the comfort? Where the hell is Aunt Francis, or her brother, or – "

"Young master, your lives are separate now. You cannot intervene."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do," Ciel snarled. He got a good grip on his butler's tie and tugged him down. " _I_ died. _You_ didn't." The grin that appeared then on the boy's porcelain face surely would have sent the bravest men running for the hills. "Yes…"

There was nothing to keep Sebastian from another encounter with Miss Elizabeth. Technically, he was still living. He merely left when the head of the family, to whom he was a loyal servant, passed away. He had probably found another wealthy family to serve under, or perhaps gone on a long and well-deserved vacation.

That's what the world believed. But it was far from the truth.

"I cannot, young master," the butler said sternly. "It would reawaken pain in your fiancée. She is already in enough agony as it is."

"You just don't want to associate with her, is all," Ciel remarked. "Behind all those perfect smiles you flashed while she was nearby, the truth was that you wanted her gone. Your demonic nature demands it. How could you want anyone around who provided me an alternative future?"

Sebastian stiffened, his fingers digging further into the brick of the fortress's wall. The truth hit home, if only a little.

"You said so yourself, she interfered with your plans for me. Anybody who jeopardizes your meal is destroyed. Anyone who messes with the contract is wiped away." His blue eyes were staring without disguise at Elizabeth's back. "Including her happiness."

Before he knew it, he was moistening his lips at the sight of her. That song of her soul suddenly seemed more appealing. Such sorrow beckoned to him. He knew what it meant to be upset, but to be desirable to others because of it… this shed some new light on what went on in his servant's mind.

"You've never considered eating her, I hope," the former earl growled.

"Are _you?_ " the butler asked slyly. He smiled down at his young master as he was given a piercing glare. "I don't deny she is appealing to many of our kind. But I assure you, while under contract your soul was and always will be the one I desire most."

"Spoken like a true monster," Ciel stated, and realized quite suddenly that he still had a hold on the tie. He released his servant quickly.

"I'm humbled, my lord," the fiend mocked politely, to which the boy rolled his eyes.

"You know, for a month once, I practiced how to smile in the mirror every morning. I did it for her. I wanted to show her I could be happy. But… It seems all that effort to change who I was has gone to waste."

"She seems to have become more like you, instead."

Elizabeth rose from her seat, head hanging, and went to retrieve the book from the floor. She put it back in its place on the bookshelf.

"We were nothing alike," Ciel digressed. "That was the fatal problem. In the end, my will to hate ruled out her will to love."

"How poetic."

"Oh shut up."

Together, they touched the ground and put some distance between them and the building. There was the faint presence of other reapers on the air, maybe two or three. It wasn't very surprising to find them coming to the scene later than the redhead.

"Clean up the reaper. He shouldn't be on my fiancée's lawn. I thought I told you long ago that I wouldn't go easy on you if you were sloppy with your work."

"Young master, may I suggest that you take your revenge on him while he is still helpless?"

"That's not how I play my games, butler. Just toss him out."

The butler bowed and did as he was asked. He hurled the reaper unceremoniously off Elizabeth's property and into the forest in the distance. They knew that Sutcliff would wake up, eventually. In the meantime…

"We should fetch you breakfast."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_**

 _Wow! Thank you for the lovely comments, everyone! I'm happy to know that people are enjoying this story. Please review, favorite and follow for updates. Your support is very encouraging. I'm going to keep this going. Thanks~!_


	7. When Nostalgic, Snuff It Out

**Chapter VII: When Nostalgic, Snuff It Out**

* * *

Breakfast didn't go smoothly. Not only was the soul sub-par at best, but the little earl had to chase down his meal while it was driving an automobile.

Ciel decided that he didn't like the contraptions very much. They were large, noisy, gave off noxious fumes. Just altogether unpleasant. Not to mention that he wasn't tall enough to reach the pedals, or even see clearly over the dashboard. He strongly preferred a coach.

That's why when his butler later acquired a metal beast and plopped it in their new manor's driveway, he was itching to put a dent in its door.

"I don't like it. Take it back."

"Oh come now, young master. Everyone is impressed by them. Please give it a chance."

Ciel was observing it through his large French window of the office, overlooking the front lawn and wrought iron gate. The vehicle was long, sleek, and black, and reminded him of a squashed beetle. He couldn't see himself in it.

"Why should I?" he asked. "What's wrong with a carriage?"

"People with titles are more apt to purchase extravagant things, and follow the latest trends. Automobiles are becoming more popular. Rumor is that someone is working on mass producing them. Do you not want to be one of the first to own such a vehicle, my lord?"

"To hell with trends," Ciel replied curtly, a hand on his hip.

"That's a bit old-fashioned of you to say, young master." Sebastian shuffled around the papers on the late earl's desk, organizing them by order of importance. "A demon has infinite time to spend. What is there to do if not to observe and appreciate these trends?"

Ciel frowned at him over his shoulder, observing his long, gloved, graceful hands at work. "Don't tell me that's how you've survived this whole time…"

"That's been a large part of it, yes. As a matter of fact, it's one of my favorite things about immortality."

"Glad to know," the boy murmured sarcastically. "I have no interest in trends. Ever since that horrible day, my enthusiasm for humanity's whims was ripped out. It's all so… petty."

"How unfortunate," the demon butler snarked. "Not only do I find your opinion of humanity questionable, but _that day_ still has its hooks in you after all this time."

"Bite your tongue, butler."

"Is that an order?" he purred.

"Shut up." The younger demon turned away from the window and sat down as his desk, opposite Sebastian. He watched him continue to neaten his paperwork, vaguely wondering if his servant was just as bored as he was. Obviously he had nothing better to do than take his time with such a menial chore.

"Would you like to discuss Lady Elizabeth?" Sebastian pried. "You seem to be decidedly gloomy after last month's excursion to her manor. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing in particular," Ciel lied. "But since you seem so obnoxiously curious about my feelings, why not? Tell me what you want to know." He sat back in his chair.

"I'd like to know if you miss seeing her. You two were betrothed, after all."

The boy was quiet. And Sebastian wasn't entirely certain whether it was because he was thinking about his answer, or just insulted. Probably both.

"…I haven't made up my mind, honestly," Ciel finally replied. "On the one hand, I do. She was the only cheerful thing – _really_ cheerful – in my life. It would be a lie to say that I don't feel nostalgia for that kind of sunshine. But on the other hand… I feel freedom. The obligations that I had as her betrothed no longer have any importance now. I do wish she wasn't so upset, however. They'll find her another husband in due time anyway."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Should I assume, then, that you never felt love towards her?"

"Assume anything you want," Ciel shot back, waving a hand in the air. "It matters little. I was a thirteen-year-old child with a penchant for vengeance, a duty to the queen, and a legacy to uphold. Do you think I ever had the time, or even the capacity, to fall in love with my cousin?"

"Perhaps not," he smiled. "But I do appreciate your confession to being nostalgic."

Ciel slapped his hand down on the desk and spitefully shoved the papers onto the floor. He stared angrily into Sebastian's red eyes, willing him to bow down to retrieve the mess. The butler shut his eyes respectfully before attending to the task.

"Quit being so friendly with me. I always found it wrong."

After collecting the papers, Sebastian placed them on the desk neatly as if they had never moved at all. When their eyes met again, Ciel noticed his butler's irises were brighter than they were a minute ago. Evidence that Sebastian was intensely amused. His expression said, _You could have fooled me. I thought you wanted us to be besties._

"As demons, we are in the business of doing wrong things, my lord."

"No, you are mistaken. As one hell of a butler, as you so aptly put it, you are in the business of doing everything _perfectly right_. And as your master, I expect nothing less. So start acting more like what you're supposed to be and quit asking me about my damn feelings."

"Yes, my lord," the butler replied, a knuckle to his curled lips.

"And if you want the car so much, fine. Keep it in the back, out of my sight."

* * *

Guilt, nostalgia, longing. What was happening? He was Ciel Phantomhive, a child the likes of which the world had never seen before. None of this was right. He didn't feel guilt, for starters. That had to stop. He didn't feel nostalgic about the past. Never once after _that earth-shattering day_ did he catch himself wishing he and Elizabeth were small again, playing in his parent's garden. After coming back home, he didn't even care about seeing his dog again, and went so far as to name the demon after it. That was proof.

Above all, he never longed for someone to understand or care about his feelings. So why now? Just _why_?

None of this lately was like him at all. He knew it, and he knew Sebastian knew it. Hell, he knew Sebastian loved these changes. The sadist.

Or perhaps it was more like him than he thought? Did being a demon mean his range of emotions had actually widened again? By dying, had he recovered a part of himself that had been lost at the start of their contract?

It could be true. Not like he would admit that he felt different to his butler. He would never hear the end of it. The only thing he could do to fix this was to try to feel more human, and these emotions would perhaps go away. Most people would believe in the opposite, that humanity had a wider spectrum of feeling, but the earl knew himself. He knew that he was never a normal human child to begin with. He thought this without any vanity, but instead with complete and bitter honesty.

It was a child corrupted by hatred and betrayal that summoned a demon to it on that dark day. He was something different that sat there in the motorcar now, a being that was discovering this blend of emotions for the first time without the film of hatred over it. He noted that his mind, despite these realizations, felt remarkably clear.

"You seem to be in deep thought, young master," Sebastian uttered, eyes off the road and on the gloomy adolescent demon beside him.

"I'm not," he lied. "I was just observing the feeling of being in this metal contraption. It's not as bad as I originally supposed."

"Oh? I knew you would warm up to it, my lord. Let us go a little faster."

The double-meaning laced in his butler's words made the young demon's stomach knot, as the momentum of the vehicle increased. Sebastian was the only creature he knew who was capable of getting such satisfaction out of something so odd. In fact, Sebastian was the only creature who ever remained consistently interesting, whether Ciel was human or demon. His tastes were, for better or worse, finally beginning to rub off on the younger demon. As proof of it, Ciel's lips curled into a small smile, though he hid it by turning to look out over his side of the automobile.

The trees passed by ever more quickly, but with his enhanced vision, he could easily pick out birds nesting in their branches and rodents scurrying along the ground. Once or twice the scent of a soul pierced the air, but he tried not to pay it any mind. He wanted to focus on the wind running its fingers through his hair. He tilted his head back on the seat and shut his eyes.

Sebastian observed this and decided to push the automobile's engine harder. How much faster could they drive before his master became afraid and ordered them to slow down? Gradually, he pressed down the pedal ever farther, as his hands gracefully kept the wheel in check.

The former earl opened his eyes to the blur of vegetation on either side of them. Still he said nothing. It looked like they were both enjoying the speed.

"Sebastian, you drive as if there is something chasing us."

The butler grinned down at him, eyes off the road again. "I assure you, there is no danger."

"Are you certain about that, Bassy~?" an irritating voice asked from behind.

Both demons spun around to find a red reaper in their backseat, lounged out to face the sky. He had one arm tucked under his head as if he had been napping.

" _Get out of my motorcar!_ " the child ordered.

" _Your_ motorcar, my lord?" the butler asked inquisitively. "If memory serves me, you bequeathed this vehicle to me after you shunned it to the backyard."

"I haven't 'bequeathed' anything to you, demon. Cease being so presumptuous and do something about that _vermin!_ "

"Hold on!" Grell pleaded. "I came to talk to you, Earl. Won't you slow this beast down?" He slid a black-gloved finger down the butler's shoulder, drawing out a shudder of distaste.

Ciel pivoted 180 degrees in his seat and snatched the death god's throat in his deceptively delicate hand. He made quick work of choking him. "I have no interest in talking with you. You killed my aunt. As far as you should be concerned, I am the most interested person on earth in seeing what your intestines look like spattered under my tires."

The ferocity dripping from his master's words sent a delicious shiver down Sebastian's spine, but he trained his eyes back on the road. "Perhaps we should let the death god speak, my lord. It is rare that this one wants just a simple talk." He was remembering with disgust the kiss that he and the redhead had shared at Elizabeth Midford's estate, and wondering how important this was if he was willing to put himself at risk.

"Fine," the little lord said. "This better be important."

Grell Sutcliff smiled, revealing his row of shark-like teeth.

* * *

"It's concerning your soul," the reaper began.

"Of course it's about my bloody soul," Ciel hissed. "It always is. What wrong with it this time?"

Grell pulled out his book of souls and turned to the appropriate page, leaning forward in his seat so his face was between the two demons. "There was an odd disturbance in Ciel Phantomhive's record a few weeks ago, but we don't know what is responsible. It was playing a different tune, flickering, if you will. The dispatch never saw anything like it before." His fingers trailed up the older demon's arm in a most unappealing way. "We assume it's your fault as usual, Sebas-chan."

"Actually, it was mine," Ciel stated.

The reaper looked surprised, but he smiled widely. "And how could that be? You know, you're much more interesting as a demon. A girl could fall for the coldness developing in those eyes of yours."

The boy's knuckles cracked involuntarily. "I ordered Sebastian to taste my soul, so he did. That must be what you saw in my record."

"How is that possible?" Grell asked.

Sebastian let out a pronounced chuckle. "When was the last time you dealt with a creature like my master?"

"He is the first, actually," the reaper admitted. "William is the only one who has ever encountered something like you before," he added, poking the little earl in the nose. "But even he didn't know what happened. Would you mind sharing the details~?"

"I do mind. Now kindly jump out of my automobile or I will launch you out. Unless you are prepared to continue where we left off last time?"

"Oh, _yes!_ " he purred, eyeing Sebastian intently. The butler visibly straightened in his seat but did not turn his head.

Ciel gripped the redhead's hair in one hand and snagged the idle death scythe in the other, then draped his target's head over the back of his seat. "Very well." The machine revved up ominously.

"My lord, perhaps at a later date. Such a skirmish would ruin the upholstery."

"You dare defend him?"

"Are you defending me, Bassy~?"

Sebastian sighed in response to both of their questions before turning the automobile down a dirt path that led into the woods.

Twigs snapped under the vehicle's weight. The chatter of birds was audible again to the reaper's ears over the roar of his chainsaw, which hovered over his neck, which was held by an undersized monster that wanted him dead.

"Please, young master, I must ask you to at least take this somewhere away from the motorcar," Sebastian murmured.

"Keep suggesting it, and I may think you've grown more loyal to this hunk of metal than to your own master." Ciel wished at that moment that he had four arms, so he could throttle both beings at the same time. But he settled for Grell.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sutcliff whined. "Don't you –"

"I don't feel like waiting," the boy snapped. "I don't feel like talking. I feel like maiming you. Now shut up and just deal with it gracefully."

Sebastian shivered and wanted to praise his master for his choice in words (really, he couldn't have said it better himself), but they were quickly interrupted by another familiar vermin.

"Hold it right there, Phantomhive," the voice declared, followed by a violent clang against the hood of the motorcar.

Their heads whipped around to spot William T. Spears perched on a tree branch, wielding his death scythe of choice. It had been a long time since their last encounter. He was looking as stiff as ever in his formal suit and tie. The weapon was dug clear through the automobile's shell. Sebastian nearly groaned.

The suited man leaped down and adjusted his glasses. "You were not authorized to approach them, Sutcliff. We ordered you to stay away from these two for your own safety. I've never known a death god so willing to die before."

"You know me, Will. I live on the edge~. So, you've come to rescue me?"

"Apparently so," the butler chimed in coldly. "By all means, take him."

The hedge clippers unlodged themselves from the motorcar and shish-kabobbed the redhead's repurposed frockcoat. He was lifted out of his predicament awkwardly, limbs flailing in the air.

"Give him back, reaper," Ciel spat. "I wasn't finished."

"You have never looked so revolting, Earl," William retorted. "I'm afraid I can't do that. However annoying Mr. Sutcliff is, the dispatch needs all the help it can get. We will put a stop to whatever plans you have with him from here on out. Please go about your day."

In the blink of an eye, the death gods had vanished. The young demon gripped the dashboard so hard that it left two handprints behind. Sebastian suppressed another groan.

* * *

Sebastian really needed to kill something.

The automobile had been damaged, so he had to fix that. Mr. Spears had called his young master revolting, which set his teeth on edge. And to top it all off, the pleasant outing that he had planned for the two of them had been wasted. His pent-up fury needed some kind of outlet.

Unfortunately, there was nothing left to do for the day but to read the rest of the mail, mop the parlor, and put his master to bed. He decided then that he would ask the boy a favor.

"What is it?" Ciel asked tiredly, already tucked in.

The older demon smiled. "Young master, I was just wondering if you'd permit me to wander out tonight, to tear down a few small criminals, perhaps some gangs. It's been a long time since I've, well… sated that particular appetite."

"What do you mean?" the boy asked, sitting upright. "Do you intend to snack on other souls to ease your pain? I will not allow that."

Sebastian put a hand to his heart. "On the contrary, young master. I intend to waste them. I would like to once again know the feeling of, for instance, ripping open a ribcage to get at a human's heart."

Ciel held up his hand to ask for silence. "Spare me the inner workings of your disgusting mind. You may entertain yourself while I rest. Just don't come back looking like a gutter rat." He lay back down and muttered, " _Ravenous beast_ ," under his breath.

"Am I to understand that you will attempt to sleep, then?"

"Perhaps," the boy answered. "In any case, keep your games quiet. I don't want to see anything in the paper next week. And keep it _far away_ from our new home. Do you understand?"

 _Our new home. Ours._ Away from his master's view, the butler held himself tight, smiling wickedly. "Of course, my lord. I wish you the most pleasant of dreams, then."

The door shut behind him, isolating both demons in silence. He could hear his master's calm, regular breathing behind the door. It sounded so human. He wondered if this desire for violence would be slicked if he could just go back in there and yank at his master's soul until they were both deliciously exhausted. But however tempting the idea was, he knew that this was against his better judgement.

Surely, all it would take to purge this impulse would be to crush a few beating hearts in his hands? Just a few. Or a few dozen. He needed to find pathetic, worthless souls, and rip through them thoroughly. It had been months since he had had such a dance.

He wandered the halls of this new manor, toying with the idea of bringing butter knives to really spice things up. But he decided against it. He only wanted to use his hands. He wanted to get his gloves as red as Grell Sutcliff's coat, in fact.

Sebastian awaited the day when he and his master could have these kinds of dances together, when the child would have the same appetite for violence. Ciel Phantomhive cracking open the skull of a crime lord – now _that_ was something he would delight in watching. That was something very different from using a gun or a sword, something so priceless that he would wait an eternity to witness.

For now, his demonic master was still quite innocent. Sebastian was content to dance alone tonight, knowing his prey was safely and comfortably stowed away for safe-keeping.

* * *

William sat behind his desk, at the bright-as-day reaper dispatch, Grell Sutcliff sitting in the corner of the office. The redhead was twirling a red lock of hair around his finger as if he was a detained schoolboy about to get suspended, while Spears appeared to be the unquestioned principal of the situation.

The silence was too much for Grell. That, and the sterility of the office made him feel like he was waiting for a dentist appointment. "I'm sorry, Will, really! I thought that the kid deserved to know that something was up with his soul. How was I supposed to know he tampered with it on purpose?"

The suited reaper readjusted his glasses sternly. "He is a demon, Mr. Sutcliff. Not a kid. He is no better than the dog he has on his leash. Besides, after his previous attempt to dispose of you, I would think that you should have at least enough common sense to stay clear of them for good."

"I can't stay away from Sebastian, and there is nothing you can do about that~," the redhead stated.

"We insist that you do," Will retaliated. "The dispatch is understaffed as it is, and we cannot afford to lose any more employees."

Grell sighed and crossed his legs. "I think you just want to keep me all to yourself, William~."

Behind his glasses, Will's eyes flinched with discomfort. "It isn't like that at all, Mr. Sutcliff."

The denial brought out another sigh. Sutcliff's eyes wandered around the office. The white light saturated everything, and he wondered that maybe if he brought in something red, perhaps a few roses, Will's mood would lighten up. Then he noticed an ornate black book, which had not been there during his last visit, on the desk. It had a width the length of his thumb.

"Who does that book belong to?" he asked.

William twitched. "It doesn't concern you."

"I'm a death god, and a soul book does indeed concern me!" Grell rose from his seat and snatched the book off the desk greedily. "What's in here?" he wondered, flipping it open before Will could get it back in time. His eyes scanned through the lines, searching for clues.

"I've never seen a book like this one before…"

It was the suited reaper's turn to sigh. He held out his hand to politely motion for it back. "That's because there hasn't been such a book until recently. That book is called a contract book – or at least that's the name we're assigning to it for now."

"The names and dates look familiar. Have I reaped some of these souls before?" Grell wondered, eyes still scanning intently, not ready to relinquish the book just yet. Engrossed in the list, he maneuvered it away from Will's attempt to swipe it back.

"We both have," William said. "It is the contract book of Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis. It details every death that resulted from their contract."

" _Really!?"_ Grell cried in surprise. "Why would the dispatch start keeping such a record?"

"Because those two are unnecessarily disruptive to our cause. The dispatch saw a need for keeping track of all the trouble they have made, and by extension, how much overtime they have cost us. Such books from now on can help us determine which contracts need to be kept under the most surveillance, such as that of these vermin."

Impressed with the length of it, Grell flipped out of curiosity to find the last page. He saw Ciel Phantomhive's name at the bottom. "Hmm, that seems to make sense. Oh! What's this? There are more names after the brat. Looks like their list is growing as we speak."

Will stiffened. "What?"

"There are more names appearing here," Grell elaborated, holding open the book to point at the list.

It was lengthening by the second, sometimes by two and three names at a time. All the dates, they observed, were the same. The times were in succession. The elegant script did nothing to quell the reapers' nerves as they watched the names continue down in a line, until a new page turned to reveal more souls.

Will managed to snatch the book back and placed it, open, on the desk. They continued to observe the list, somewhat entranced. Name after name, flickering into existence on the parchment. Finally, the list slowed after three pages of rapid growth. The final name appeared with its date. But it curiously lingered and was not assigned a time until approximately five minutes after it had originated.

"This is unsettling," Will finally announced. "This would mean that…"

"Sebastian is busy~," Grell mused, studying the text. "But why would that kid want all of these people dead? I don't understand it."

Will looked decidedly irate, pushing up his glasses and retreating from the book. "That demon acted alone, independent of his master," he murmured. He closed the book roughly and pushed it aside.

"That last soul's time of death stalled...Hmm, Bassy must have tortured the poor bastard," Sutcliff assumed. "Should we investigate this mess? There are at least thirty of them. I lost count."

"Unfortunately, I believe we must. But you stay here while we handle it. Unless, that is, you want your name there at the bottom." Spears picked up the book and made quick work of stowing it away in his desk drawer, then harshly eyed Sutcliff as if to order him to _stay put._

Grell crossed his arms, smiled, sighed, and turned to leave the office. "You boys always have all the fun. If I learn that you meet with Bassy while I'm not there, you'll be in trouble, Will. He's mine~."

"Indeed," Will muttered. "I have no intentions of encountering Ciel Phantomhive's rabid dog, if I can help it."


	8. When In Pain, Tea is Useless

**Chapter VIII: When In Pain, Tea is Useless**

Ah, it felt good to have that blood on his suit again, on his gloves, on his face. It had been awhile since he had gone out for such an occasion.

In the dim light, Sebastian Michaelis looked at his reflection in the mirror of his bedroom, observing the carnage that he wore with a good measure of satisfaction. He was careful not to leave any footprints on his way in – that would have been quite the hassle to clean up. Not to mention that his master did not want to encounter such a thing, if he were to wake up from his recreational slumber.

He started by leisurely removing his tailcoat, taking care not to let any residue get on the furniture. It would take some time to clean all this off (couldn't come back to his young master looking like a gutter rat, after all), but he felt that it was entirely worth the effort.

The killing spree amused him on many levels. He enjoyed the dance, for one thing. There was no feeling quite like that of bones splintering under the weight of his hand, or lungs popping like a balloon. All those delicate and slippery pieces that made up the human body. He also enjoyed that he was a butler while doing it, wearing a butler's uniform, confusing his victims. It was funny to be constantly underestimated. And most of all, he enjoyed that the young master let him act of his own accord, and did not care for any of the souls' fates – his indifference was deliciously ruthless.

Yes, so many things to savor from the experience. He only wished it hadn't ended the way it did.

The reapers had to swoop in to clean it up, naturally. He knew it was inevitable. He just didn't expect them to come so soon, their unwelcome presence on the air like an approaching flock of vultures. He left the scene before they could get a glimpse of him, and before he really had a chance to observe his own handiwork.

 _That was too much time indulged on the last one_ , he scolded himself. Sure, that rat was the gang leader. Sure, his cries for mercy were like music. But that was hardly an excuse for lingering when he knew reapers would come.

He always detested reapers. They got in his way.

Sebastian switched into his spare uniform so he could attend to the sullied one. He wondered, as he rinsed out the stains in the pail, what his master was dreaming about. Certainly not the Trancys again. That would need to be addressed if it became a recurring nightmare. And the Trancys were not something Sebastian wanted to discuss. Simply more vermin, as far as he was concerned. Glad they were disposed of.

He twisted the shirt to rid it of excess water, then hung it to dry. Next was the tailcoat. He would need to use his powers to dry it quickly enough for tomorrow morning.

His mind wandered to what it would be like if his young master partook in the killing spree. How many victims would he want? Would they compete with each other? How much blood would he spill? Sebastian could only imagine what it would be like to clean someone else's blood from his young master's shirt.

He dunked his gloves into the pail and sloshed them around. By now, the water was red. He needed it fresh. He decided to go out to refill the pail, but when he opened the door, he was startled to find the young master hovering outside his room.

"You're back," Ciel murmured sleepily, eyes half-lidded and hair tousled. He suppressed a yawn behind his small flawless hand, black fingernails winking in the faint light.

Sebastian quickly shut the door behind him and smiled. "I didn't wake you, did I, my lord?"

"No. I was just curious about what you are doing. I smelled blood earlier."

"Did you?" the butler mused, wondering whether his master could detect that in his sleep. Unlikely. It was more likely that the boy had never gone to sleep in the first place. "I trust you had pleasant dreams?"

"I tried sleeping," the late earl confessed. "It didn't work. I got bored. Then I heard you come in, and I smelled… a lot of… You didn't make a mess, did you?"

He allowed Sebastian to lead him down the hallway back in the direction of his room, finding the lack of candlelight to be satisfactory.

"I'm handling it, presently," the butler grinned over his shoulder.

Ciel yawned wide and rubbed his marked eye. "I'm glad to hear it."

Sebastian slowed his pace. "Perhaps you would like to join me next time?" he asked gently.

The question caught Ciel off guard. The darkness of the manor swallowed them. The boy stopped in his tracks, and stared at him blankly, utterly still, unreadable. The older demon began to worry if he had hit a nerve. The oppressive silence dragged on as Sebastian waited for a reply.

"…Join you in…? Killing for fun?" the young demon murmured.

He could see Sebastian's wicked smile through the darkness. "For fun," his voice drawled.

Ciel's bangs covered his eyes as he lowered his head, his expression a complete mystery. The sight might have scared a human. His shoulders tensed, once, twice. He seemed about to answer, but he did not.

Sebastian chastised himself for asking the question so directly. Of course it was too soon to offer. The young master just recently began eating. How could he expect him to want to tag along? Shutting his eyes and lowering his head in a respectful apology, the butler spun around and continued to lead his young master back to his bedroom.

Suddenly, he heard the distinct sound of a snicker behind his back. He spun again.

"You really _are_ a demon!" the boy finally exclaimed, his abrupt laughter completely alien. The sound was reminiscent of the time after their mission with the circus, when he was hysterical as they had gazed upon the ruins of Baron Kelvin's workhouse. He couldn't stop himself from holding his stomach as the laughter bubbled out. The sound, now coming from demonic lips, sounded – dare Sebastian think it – more natural than it had from human lips.

"My lord?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," he finally managed to say, still grinning. He grabbed Sebastian's tie and planted a brief kiss on the butler's lips, before releasing him to walk ahead. "At least you don't _taste_ like someone else's blood. I'm glad to know you haven't been snacking."

The butler was left stunned behind his master, eyes wide. Silent, he felt his lips with his fingers. Then he smiled affectionately. "I wouldn't dream of snacking on any other soul, my lord," he replied, savoring the brief gift. "Does that mean you have accepted my invitation for the next dance, then?"

"I'll think about it," the little earl stated. "Just stop calling it a dance, that's far too perverse." He turned his head to really observe his servant's face, perhaps to search for any evidence of a mess. He didn't find a single speck. "Well, did you enjoy yourself? Are you satisfied?"

"I did, very much. That appetite has been assuaged for now."

"So you're as content as a baby?" he teased.

The butler smirked. "Hardly," he answered.

"I expected as much."

The earl invited Sebastian to walk at his side. Their shoes tapped on the floor. They remained engulfed in the pleasant silence all the way back to Ciel's room, where the butler once again tucked his master into bed. It was all too easy to resume the normal human schedule, despite the fact that they didn't need it.

"Try to sleep," Sebastian whispered, tenderly pushing the young master's bangs out of his eyes. "Would you like to discuss that nightmare you had? Was it another one about the Trancys?"

"It needs no discussion," Ciel uttered, pulling the blanket under his chin.

At that, the butler smiled and rose to his full height. "Very well, my lord. Pleasant dreams."

"…Stay," he barked.

"Yes, my lord." The butler quietly sat in front of the window, overlooking the backyard and garden. The motorcar seemed to beckon to him. He settled for longingly observing it, while his master slowly drifted off to sleep. He was already planning their next trip when he noticed that his lips were tingling.

* * *

The curtains over the earl's window were fluttering in the autumn breeze, and the way they moved was eerie enough to keep Ciel entranced. Against his better judgement, he would think that he was observing a ghost. But the real trouble was that the window was open, and Sebastian wasn't in the room.

The boy shuddered under his covers. The nightmare that woke him this time was even more vivid than the last one. This time he hadn't screamed to make the spider butler go away. At least, he didn't think so, from what he could remember. He had the feeling that he had just jumped over the side of a building. Waking up had been sudden, silent, and chock full of paranoia.

The young demon couldn't bring himself to get out of bed and shut the window. He managed to light the candle without touching it to bring some clarity into the room. He glanced twice in the corner at a dark shape that seemed to look like someone, but upon blinking a few times, he could see there was nothing there. Ciel put his hands to head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Awake again, my lord?"

"Ahh – !" the little earl started.

Sebastian was in the window, eyes a smoldering fuchsia.

"You bastard," Ciel hissed. "I told you to stay."

"Indeed I did stay, master, but you didn't specify where. I thought that I would admire the automobile just outside. It appears that decision was a mistake."

The child took up a pillow and chucked it precisely at his butler's face. Nothing in the older demon's expression changed. He slid in from outside and shut the window.

"In any case, I think it would be best to discuss these nightmares. Perhaps they will go away if you talk about them."

"I don't want to talk about them," Ciel sighed. The butler placed the pillow behind his master's back to make sitting up more comfortable, then sat at the end of the bed.

"Why is that? Surely you can't endure them forever."

The boy's face was suddenly hard and didn't look quite right for a child. "You never did a damn thing to make them go away when I was human, Sebastian. Tea doesn't do a damn thing. I assumed you knew that and simply did it to make yourself appear sympathetic."

Ciel was a frail, curled up figure under the blanket. The silent butler did nothing to confirm or deny his master's statement.

"…It was the Trancy butler," he finally croaked, locking eyes with his servant. "From what I can remember, I dreamed that he was still alive. That he was out to get me, and to destroy you."

"That's quite impossible," Sebastian assured him. "I ran him through with the Lævateinn myself."

"I know that," snapped the young master, unimpressed. "But these nightmares persist. Tell me… what can we do to put an end to them?"

It was the butler's turn to sigh. He brushed the bangs away from his master's eyes, musing, and enjoying the silence. "I may be one hell of a butler, but… it seems that I don't have an answer for everything."

The boy placed his hand over his butler's and offered a humble, unexpected smile. "I know. It must be so distressing for you, ancient as you are, to still not have all the answers. That's why I love asking you so many questions."

Sebastian simply grinned in response, appreciating the feeling of his master's delicate hand over his own. His lips were tingling again. He tried not to pay it any mind as he worked through the possibilities of a permanent solution to his master's dilemma.

"This may be an unorthodox way to banish your nightmares, but would you like to go on a trip to the Island of Death? Perhaps if you saw the corpse of the spider butler with your own eyes, your fears would be put to rest."

The boy removed his hand in disgust. "Your mind works in mysterious ways, butler. I imagine that a trip to the Island of the Death would make things worse. It's the _Island of Death_."

"That's unlikely, my lord. Death doesn't pester demons, it assists them. Besides, aren't you the least bit curious about what his corpse looks like? I myself have never seen a demon's corpse before. It's not every day that one of us dies."

"…What the hell is wrong with you, Sebastian?" The young Phantomhive put a hand to his head and slumped against the pillow. "The obvious solution is that I could simply give up sleeping, like you have. But I would be…I would be very bored. I'm sure you know what that feels like."

"Indeed."

Ciel smirked, and grabbed his dark shades from the nightstand. He turned them over in his hands. "Alright. We'll go."

* * *

 _It's such a curious thing_ , Sebastian thought to himself. As a demon, his young master was so much more open to exploration. Had he even suggested a trip just for a trip's sake, Ciel would have laughed in his face while he was human. The boy had been all business and no fun. Well, that had been part of what made him so interesting, anyway.

Now, a joy ride to the Island of Death? Would Sebastian get everything he wanted?

Not _everything_ – just short of everything.

There was still that delectable soul stuck down deep inside his young master's lithe body. Ciel Phantomhive could let Sebastian have anything he wanted to try and make himself feel better, but the truth was that there was no getting rid of his guilt.

Their contract had been fair and square. Sebastian knew upon binding them together that his master would put up no struggle at all when _the time_ came. On the contrary, the child had been so far away from hope that the demon was certain he was all too willing to be consumed in the first place. Their contract was just a way out of his ugly reality. And so the search for his tormenters ever since had been a bitter race to the finish.

Never had his master tried to trick him out of the contract, or expressed remorse, or insulted it. Sebastian knew he had a special soul in his clutches. Still did, figuratively. Imagine, a soul that felt guilty about not holding up his end of the contract, even if it had not been his fault. Even when it meant his own demise.

The child stood there, hands on the rail of the steamship, overlooking the seascape for any signs of the familiar island.

"You won't see it for some time, my lord. During our last trip, you were unconscious for much of the journey."

"How much longer before we _do_ see it?"

The butler came up beside him and also rested his hands on the rail gracefully. Naturally, the breeze was playing with his hair. "I would say about three more days. But that is no trouble for us at all."

"I know."

"Young master, forgive my asking, but I must speak plainly." Sebastian took his hands off the rail. "What has you so enthralled that you feel the need to rush through this? Why not enjoy the trip? You claim to be bored so often, surely this is an effective way to pass the time."

Ciel was silent, his eyes still trained on the horizon behind his shades. His knuckles were white with exertion from gripping the rail so tightly.

"You are quite paranoid," his butler remarked.

"Shut up."

"The Trancys were hardly a threat to begin with, my lord. Their death was inevitable."

"I said shut up." The boy's eyes snapped up to look into those of the older demon. "I have a very ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach about the Trancys. Call it a hunch, or paranoia, or whatever the hell you want. But I want to see his corpse for myself. It benefits us both."

"It is possible that we may not find it. Crows are quick to – "

"There will be bones," the earl countered. "We are going to find his bones, and then burn them until they are ashes in my fingers. Do you understand me? Ashes."

"Of course," the elder demon replied smoothly. "I will take pleasure in it."

The child smiled wryly. "Not as much as I will."

"Why is that?" Sebastian asked with genuine curiosity, head tilted in an oddly innocent sort of way.

"Because he tried to separate us, that's why. Not many are stupid enough to try that in the first place. I protect my assets."

He was an _asset._ How sickeningly sweet, Sebastian thought. Not only was he owned, but he was protected? The young demon was really asking for some kind of punishment – but they happened to be on the deck of a steamship. There was no point in addressing the matter there in front of all the other travelers.

* * *

It was early morning, and the whole ship had yet to wake up. The only humans that were awake were busy steering this contraption. Dawn was approaching as the faintest gray light made its way over the waves.

It was so quiet, almost blissful. Ciel imagined that this would be about the time the morning birds began chirping outside his bedroom window. Halfheartedly, he listened for them, all too aware from the rocking of his bed that they were still in the middle of the ocean. This sensation, in addition to the feeling of sleeping back-to-back with his butler, made for a very pleasant morning.

Not like he would admit that. All his butler needed to know was that his master felt cold. Which had only partly been true.

Sebastian breathed. It did feel and sound human, except for the fact that it was uncannily steady. Almost as if his breathing was always intentional. Probably was. Like blinking. Even smiling warmly must have been an effort, Ciel imagined. He knew it was difficult enough for a human to fake, let alone a damned monster.

"Are you awake, young master?" he asked suddenly. "I believe I heard you wake. Your heartbeat changed ever so slightly."

"I hope you'll teach me how to hear that," the boy greeted in return, resettling back into the covers.

"You wouldn't hear mine," Sebastian murmured. "I believe you simply begin to hear human heartbeats over time, just like you acquired your appetite. Speaking of –"

"I'm not hungry yet," Ciel smiled. "In an hour, perhaps. We'll find a passenger while they're still sleep."

"Very good, master." The butler began to sit up mechanically, intending to start the day, until the small hand of his master clung to his shirt. "Young master?"

"I'm still cold, you fool. Lay back down."

Turned away from his master, Sebastian grinned in satisfaction and followed the order promptly. He shut his eyes and returned to listening to the young demon's lingering heartbeat, relapsing back into the silence.

"Are you hungry?" the boy asked.

Out of sight, Sebastian's tongue did a small dance behind his lips. He focused his eyes on the wall to escape the sensation, but it didn't help much. The heartbeat suddenly seemed twice as loud.

"Please assume, young master, that I am perpetually starving, and that every time you ask whether I am hungry…"

It was very unlike Sebastian to trail off. But his answer was exceedingly satisfying, for a few moments, until guilt began bubbling up again from the void Ciel felt somewhere inside. The fact was that he didn't truly enjoy his butler's pain. He just pretended to, to keep their roles firmly set in place.

Was it working?

"You must be furious," the young demon murmured, uncaring whether he sounded empathetic or cold. "I can't imagine how you are handling enslavement and hunger at the same time. I could barely handle it when it happened to me – but to cope with it for eternity is quite different. How the hell are you doing it?"

Such a question felt like Grell Sutcliff had slammed the death scythe through his gut. But Sebastian mused that this kind of pain wasn't so straightforward. It felt closer to being on fire, slowly and excruciatingly being burned from the inside out.

"I have no idea," was the butler's hopeless reply.

He wasn't angry anymore. At all. He knew then and there that even if this pain was ever able to disappear, he would stay by his master's side regardless of any contract. He would stay despite anything and everything. That was just how precious this creature was to him. Damn any demon who thought that his devotion was foolish.

This sudden realization mercifully took the edge off of his hunger. Sebastian could almost feel some of the pain subsiding. It was as if he could breathe again, see again, though he had been doing that the whole time. He supposed that this was the sensation of finding a purpose.

"Just ridiculous," the earl snickered. "You aren't managing at all. You're no better at handling this pain than I was. Why if I didn't know any better, I'd say –"

The marked hand that clamped down on the younger demon's shoulder was like stone. Sebastian stared down his master until he wanted to dissolve away into the covers.

"I'm managing, _little_ master. I only said that I don't know how. But I just became aware of how exactly I have been coping with this pain."

Ciel's curiosity got the better of him. "Enlighten me, demon."

The butler slyly nestled his face into his master's neck, while he thought of how to word it properly. "To put it simply, our enslavements can be categorized as two different scenarios. You were there in that place against your will. However, I am here because it is my will."

" _Your_ will?" the young demon asked in disbelief. "It was _my_ will, you moron!"

"Was?"

"It – it _is_ my _…_ Well, it was my will that brought you here in the first place!"

Sebastian's smile, hidden in his master's throat, could almost be mistaken for sweet. "I'm pleased that we cleared up that misunderstanding. It appears that we do, in fact, intend to keep each other."

The earl glared down at him. "You never owned me in the first place, you delusional and twisted hell hound."

The statement provoked a familiar, undeniable chuckle. "Of course I have, my lord. I always have. The moment you offered your soul to me, I have owned you. Perhaps you never saw it that way. Perhaps you tricked yourself into thinking that all the power you gained was because you owned me, and not because I allowed you to use it."

"How dare you, you…" The earl's gaping mouth slammed shut. He felt like yanking on the butler's hair for his insolence. But that would appear too childish, so he instead got up and out of bed, and proceeded to use the silent treatment. He stuck to the treatment for the rest of the voyage.


	9. When Suspicious, Simply Investigate

_Author's Note_

 _Happy New Year! I appreciate your patience, readers. I used to have much more written in advance, but lately I've needed to scramble to keep this story rolling in a semi-timely manner. Thank you for reading, favoriting and reviewing. Your feedback has been so awesome!_

* * *

 **Chapter IX: When Suspicious, Simply Investigate**

* * *

The dispatch was quiet.

It was mostly due to the event that every reaper had their spectacles on: the demon master and butler were once again on a steamship. Reapers remembered all too well what happened the last time this was the case - a massacre the likes of which they had only seen before on battlefields.

But this was a little different, Will surmised. The late earl wasn't looking for answers on the ship itself. They had no reason to devastate the hundreds of passengers on their way to that island. So why did he feel uneasy about their voyage?

"You should stop looking through that book, Senpai. You'll get yourself a headache," advised Ronald Knox. He placed a steaming mug of coffee on his senior's desk as the older reaper's eyes scanned over the pages of the new Contract Book.

"How did this book come about, anyway?" asked the blonde reaper, scratching his head and looking over the desk at the pages.

William's eyes snapped up to Ronald's. "We don't know. We suspect it is because of their peculiar relationship." His eyes fell again to inspect the names.

"Peculiar relationship? You mean to say that no demon ever enslaved another demon before? Ever?"

"Yes, Mr. Knox, that's exactly what I mean."

"Hell, I never would have guessed. Demons are such tricky bastards, I thought that this would be something that's already happened plenty of times."

"You thought wrong, Mr. Knox." Will shut the book with a thud and sat erect in his chair, resolved to calm himself down by observing the pristine surroundings of his office. Gratefully, he sipped from the coffee mug, trying to absorb its warmth as if he was still human.

"So why did you call for me?" Ronald asked bluntly. "Is it about Sutcliffe again?"

"Not this time. I wanted to share some news with you, and perhaps get your opinion on something."

"My opinion…?"

"I've been promoted, Mr. Knox, to Management Director. And with this promotion, I have direct orders from the superiors to make a few changes, if other reapers are willing to cooperate."

"Congratulations! I knew if any of us were in the running, you would be at the top of the list. So what are these changes? Secret mission, perhaps?" The blonde's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Will smiled briefly. "You might call it that. I am going to be selecting a few reapers that I deem appropriate for this "secret mission," and if they agree to it, then we can strategize. You are one of the reapers I have selected. But you must swear on your glasses that you will never let the contents of what we discuss leave this office."

Ronald tapped the side of his glasses with his fingers and grinned. "Wouldn't dream of spilling the beans, Senpai. What is this about?"

"It has to do with this book," Will began. "Its mere existence makes our jobs more difficult. The contract between Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis should have terminated months ago, but as you are aware, complications arose that threw their agreement into a closed loop, which we cannot find a way to break."

"Haven't you said before that you don't see what is so special about that kid? Why should his fate be so important now?"

"The superiors have alluded to his importance. It takes a certain kind of soul to bind a demon to itself. His, I've been told, is even more valuable because of the way it commands that power instead of rejects it. Such a soul is rare and cannot be lost."

Knox snorted. "Well, he's long gone, to be frank."

"No, he's not," said William. "The fact that this book exists means that his soul has not been consumed, and therefore it can be salvaged."

"Do you mean that our secret mission is to rescue this soul out from its contract? That's been against the rules for eons. And you know me, I don't really keep up with rules, but Senpai, are you sure this is something we should…?"

William sighed. "The superiors insist we work on this project, due to the extenuating circumstances."

"So how do they expect us to salvage it?"

William took another sip of his coffee. "They have proposed a few options for us. The first is that we separate the demons and contain Ciel Phantomhive, in order to figure out how to extract the soul ourselves. The second is reversed, where we contain Sebastian Michaelis and attempt to sever the contract through him. Our third option is to simply dispose of them both in order to erase the Contract Book out of existence, and we will begrudgingly file it as a loss of the soul and fill out the miles of ensuing paperwork. In any case, they want this mess cleaned up."

The blonde made a face of disgust at that last option. It was a lot to process at once. He suddenly wanted to go back to the receptionist's desk for a quick make-out session to take his mind off this information overload.

"What is your opinion?"

Ronald was confused. "My opinion on which option I think is best, or my opinion on this whole project? Really, I think the superiors have lost their marbles, tackling this kind of thing. We aren't meant to interfere with contracts, and you know that, Senpai."

"We are meant to follow orders, Mr. Knox. This is a pressing issue. But if you aren't sure about your opinion yet, please take some time to think about it. I'll give you a week. If you don't make a decision, I will pass on the information to another reaper and you will be left out of the mission."

"OK. One more thing. What do we get for this mission? Promotions?"

Will nearly rolled his eyes at the younger reaper's self-serving habits. "I haven't been informed of the details yet, but please be assured that the rewards are substantial and cannot be obtained through any other means."

"Oh, come on. You can tell me!"

William set down his mug quietly.

"As I understand it, if the mission is successful, the superiors are willing to release the participants from their duties."

"Whoa…You don't mean that... they would let us out?"

"Yes, Mr. Knox. Your service would be completed, and you would no longer need to reap souls. Participants would be free to go about their eternal lives on earth or elsewhere."

"I've never heard of that _forgiveness_ thing actually happening," Ronald confessed in astonishment. He went silent for a few moments.

"I'll…I'll take that week to think about it."

He courteously took back the empty coffee mug and exited the office, trying not to meet the eyes of his coworkers for the rest of his shift.

* * *

(/)

* * *

It was only a matter of time, they were both thinking.

Ciel had felt that they would be back at the island for one reason or another. Frankly, he had hoped the next time he came here, Sebastian would put an end to everything. But this felt more like a mission. And judging by his butler's stoic demeanor, he had no intentions of trying to hijink their contract somehow, even if he knew of a way in the first place.

Sebastian, on the other hand, simply knew that after all the lingering trouble with the Trancys, this would be their destination to solve the problem. Perhaps this would give them both some peace of mind.

The late earl of Phantomhive trudged over the rocky landscape, with no signs of fatigue from the terrain. They were nearing the place that the spider butler had met his end.

He had forgotten how desolate this place looked; not a speck of green for miles. Dead trees, dead ground, dead sky. Just unpleasant. The only sound was that of crows. The water, now out in the distance, looked more inviting just for the fact that it moved.

The butler stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Ciel asked.

At that moment, they felt it at the same time - the ground rumbled, subtle enough that a human would not have been able to feel it.

The expression on Sebastian's face was astonishment. In any other place, Ciel would have found it amusing.

"We're not alone," he murmured.

"Is it…?"

"It could be many things, so I would not jump to any conclusions yet."

They continued towards the site of the duel. Ciel began to feel shivers running down his back at the thought of crossing paths with the spider butler again, but it was so unlikely that he reasoned this feeling was utter nonsense.

The butler noticed this shivering once or twice. "Are you cold, my lord?"

"I'm dandy. We're nearly there, don't stop now." The child shoved past his concerned butler, driven to end this trip by observing the corpse (or any remains, for that matter), and then running at full speed in the opposite direction.

Sebastian trailed behind him, somewhat irritated at the impatience Ciel had just displayed.

The two of them finally reached the top of the cliff and peered down into the dark void of rock where Faustus, as well as Hannah Anafelowz, had been destroyed. What they found was surprising.

They found nothing. No trace of bodies, no blood, no scent of anything dead at all. The space that they had occupied was completely empty.

Ciel shivered, and wrapped his arms around his body in a rare display of vulnerability. He felt sick. "Sebastian, what does this mean?"

The demon butler was observing and re-observing the rocks, his eyes roving over every inch for any clues. He thought at the very least that he would be able to detect whether the corpses had been picked off or not, but there wasn't even evidence of that. It was as if someone had made off with them.

"Sebastian."

"It means that, perhaps, their corpses have been moved. Or Claude Faustus isn't as dead as we supposed. In any case, we haven't gotten what we came here for."

The butler swiftly jumped down into the void to take a closer look. Ciel tentatively stayed at the edge, still hugging himself. After a few minutes, Sebastian reemerged, a little disheveled. He shook his head to say that he hadn't found anything of import.

Ciel didn't know what to do with himself then. He felt he might collapse. Gritting his teeth, he spat out a few choice curse words, then snatched up a rock and hurled it down into the void. The force of its impact echoed up to their ears.

"Shall I search the rest of the island?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know. If they're gone, they're gone." His hands were claws. "I was looking forward to burning his bones…"

"Young master, I suggest that we leave for home before we discover what that rumbling was."

"But that's precisely why I want to stay," countered Ciel. "Didn't you say that we're not alone here? I'd like to know exactly what could have made the island of death rumble."

Sebastian put a hand to his forehead and sighed, not in the mood to argue. He glanced over the rocks in question again before turning to survey the rest of the landscape.

"There isn't much here for a butler to work with to keep his master comfortable."

Ciel offered a small smile. "If we were able, we would have driven here in the motorcar. You could have taught me how to operate it while we wait, at least."

"You wouldn't be tall enough to drive it, I'm afraid," Sebastian replied smugly, enjoying the company of his young master in this desolate place. The child was a metaphorical light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Rather than come up with something snarky to shoot back at the taller demon, Ciel left the silence unbroken. He was listening intently for any signs of life. Again, he felt sick. The complete lack of color was getting on his nerves, uninterrupted shades of gray seemingly spanning miles. It was like being on the moon.

Suddenly he realized that Sebastian was working on something behind his back. Astonished, Ciel turned to find a chair, completely carved from stone, shaped in the fashion of a throne. It must have been a replica of Queen Victoria's seat of royalty. Sebastian smiled unpleasantly and motioned for his master to sit down.

Ciel stared at him.

"What, is there something on my - ?"

"No. I'm just surprised is all." The child leisurely settled into the throne and rested his chin in one hand. " _Now_ you can search the island," he grinned, shooing his butler away to go explore. "I'll give you ten minutes. Let me know what you find. And if something kills you, tell me."

Sebastian's chuckle of delight was a welcome sound. "I'll be sure to tell you." He bowed at the waist. Then in the blink of an eye, he was on the other side of the island, out of Ciel's sight. The child took it as an opportunity to rest, confident that his butler would bring him a satisfying answer.

* * *

(/)

* * *

He hadn't known that his master was able to fall asleep in a throne made from rock, but then again, the child was so prideful that he probably fooled himself into thinking it was a comfortable seat. As he approached the little earl, he was trying to figure out how to properly word the news about what he had found.

Sebastian had found the source of the rumbling; it had been another demon who had entered the island of death directly from Hell. Of course, not hearing the sound of the door being opened for centuries, he had almost forgotten about it and had raised a false alarm for his young master.

The demon, as it turns out, was a lovely woman with a slender neck, in a black cloak. Her features and aura reminded Sebastian of an owl. He asked her whether or not she knew the whereabouts of the demons who had perished on this island recently, and she didn't know what he meant at first. But upon thinking about it, she realized who he was asking about. She claimed she was friends with Hannah.

"There were never corpses," she explained. "I come here often. I haven't seen any dead demons in a long time, let alone on this island. You say you killed them all? All five?"

"That is what I thought," Sebastian said. Obviously puzzled, his eyes scanned the mountains. "If you and Ms. Anafeloz were friends, why aren't you angry with me?"

"Oh, I am," the woman remarked. "But not much. You may be too handsome for me to justify holding a grudge. Hannah was my friend, but she had this coming, if you know what I mean." The owl demon flashed her teeth at Sebastian before turning away, clearly intending to leave.

"Wait a moment, if you please. Do you know of anyone who may have seen them?"

"Sorry raven, but I don't keep tabs on our kind. When Hannah disappeared, I didn't think much of it. I rejoiced, thinking that she might have finally escaped her wretched master and the toll that it was taking on her. I'm sure you understand."

"I'm not sure I do," Sebastian stated, "as my master and I are very close."

"You're under contract too? What is it with everyone and contracts?" The owl demon rolled her eyes. She threw her cloak over her shoulder in frustration. "I can't stand them. There is no reason not to simply take what you need and move on."

The butler sensed that this would be a satisfying conversation if he wanted to continue the subject, but he did not. He only had a minute left before his ten minutes were up. Smiling politely, he bowed his head to bid her farewell. She had invited him back to Hell for the evening, but he declined, stating that his master waited for his return. Aloof as most demons are, she had shown no signs of disappointment as she left back through the door.

The rumbling as the door had closed had woken up Ciel from his short nap, which hadn't been pleasant anyway. He watched his butler return, trying to discern the news before it was delivered.

"Well?" Ciel asked.

"The rumbling came from a door."

"...A door? What door?"

"There was a demon who was visiting this island directly from Hell, and she took a shortcut through the door."

Ciel threw his hands up. "What a waste." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he stood up, and brought a fist down over the throne. It made an alarming _crack_ as it split apart. The structure crumbled under the impact, and left Sebastian startled.

"Young master, why did you…?"

"I don't want anyone seeing that," Ciel answered. "Show me this door. I think we should spend some more time in Hell. It could be where the bastard has been hiding this entire time, right under our noses."

Sebastian was silent.

"And when we find him, I order you to rip out his ribcage and make him swallow it. Now let's go."

The butler, just as weary of the island as his master was, led the way to the door. It was through two extremely tall cliff faces, under a heavy layer of fog. Made of metal, the scrollwork and engravings were quite elaborate. But the best part was the heat and light coming from behind it.

Ciel sighed with relief at the sight. To a human, the sight of this door might bring with it a feeling of overwhelming dread, but to the demon child, it was a sight for sore eyes. To behold the orange color of distant flames and feel the heat on his face was wonderful after the cold gray surroundings.

Sebastian motioned for his master to stand behind him. He took off the glove of his contract hand and knocked on the door three times. His eyes lit up momentarily. To Ciel's surprise, the door gaped open, and allowed them to enter.


	10. When Under Attack, Plan B

**Chapter X: When Under Attack, Plan B**

* * *

The heat that embraced them was like soaking in a hot bath after a long day covered in snow. Both demons' auras hummed with satisfaction at the sensation. The distant sound of a piano added to the atmosphere seamlessly.

"I know my opinion of this place is always changing," Ciel confessed, his head nearly rolling back. "It was dull in the beginning. But it really isn't that bad, don't you agree? I feel I could get used to staying here for awhile. Come, let's go to that – what was it – that dance room we visited once before. Perhaps Marie will be there."

"She is indeed a regular. She will be happy to see that you've returned," Sebastian replied. "Have you made another demon friend?"

The child scoffed. "What do you mean by _another_ one? As if I've ever been friends with a demon."

If Sebastian had the capacity to roll his eyes, he would have. He knew his master was trying to provoke him. Before he began walking towards the dance hall, the butler snatched the younger demon's collar and yanked him forward until their lips met in a hurried kiss. Ciel shivered at the bite of wickedly sharp teeth on his lower lip, and shoved the older demon away just in time for another resident of Hell to pass by suspiciously.

"Not right now, you idiot!" hissed his eternal prey.

Sebastian was supremely delighted, the power behind his smirk enough to start an earthquake. The brief flash of his pointed teeth indicated this to Ciel, who quickly made towards a familiar corridor in an effort to find the dance floor.

Trusting his ears to follow the music, the demon child listened carefully. He fancied that the haunting melody was calling out to him. It wasn't long before the swirling black mass enveloped the earl again, eager to receive the brilliant little soul who had become as dark as the lucky demon bound to it.

Sebastian watched this spectacle with undisguised hunger. He followed his master into it with unparalleled grace, characteristically drawing a great amount of attention from onlookers. Almost instantly after entering the crowd, a pair of slender arms linked around his neck, and he disappeared from Ciel's view.

Ciel, as the oddity, needed to work a little to find a partner. He scanned the faces for any sign of Marie, not daring to call out to her for fear of being looked upon as weak. He wondered whether demons were actually accustomed to forming lasting bonds with each other, or if they were all just scavengers. After some searching, a familiar pair of hands found him and settled over his shoulders, and her voice hummed his name.

"I missed you, odd one," she stated bluntly, her eyes large and probing. "Have I missed anything interesting?"

Ciel Phantomhive smiled kindly at her, accepting her proximity. "Not much," he answered.

Her smile was sweet. "Does Mr. Cinderella have a curfew tonight, or will I have you all to myself this evening?"

"You're referring to my butler as Cinderella?" he snarked. "He has hardly earned such a nickname."

Marie stole a kiss on the earl's cheek. "I believe he has, all things considered."

"What do you know of him?"

She pecked his nose as if she were a little human girl expressing her affection. Ciel rested his forehead against hers, trying to erase his humanity, and with it his social awkwardness. He held her waist hesitantly.

"I know he is very old and very devoted, though his age and range of emotion is intentionally kept a mystery. He is also, as a little girl might say, quite a fetching gentleman. Don't you think so?"

The earl found it difficult to respond. "I'm not a little girl, but I suppose… I mean, judging by how much attention he gets by both men and women alike...One might call him handsome."

She giggled. "I envy you a little. But I think you are just as fetching, for a child, that is."

"I'm not a child," he asserted.

"How old were you when you died?"

"...None of your business."

"I appreciate a little mystery," she purred into his ear, her gaze at that moment sliding to view something in the distance.

Ciel shivered.

"Let's find a fireplace," she suggested. "There are many. Your butler can have you back later."

"What do you mean, have –" he was stopped mid sentence as she pulled him in the direction of the exit.

* * *

Ciel Phantomhive didn't know how old this demon was, but her appearance betrayed nothing. She looked as young as he did. And that was eerie for two reasons. For one, this creature could, all possibilities considered, be an eighty-year-old crone if it were human. And two, how likely was it that another demon would look his age, if Sebastian had hinted to how rare such a thing was in the first place?

The little earl didn't much care about this sense of foreboding, because being Downstairs meant essentially that you just had to put up with it – just like you had to put up with breathing. The lingering humanity that he had yet to shed was probably the culprit. He blatantly pushed the feeling out of the way as Marie tilted his head back with her slender fingers.

"You are a marvel, Ciel Phantomhive. When I was first told that Sebastian Michaelis had found himself a new soul, I thought he was daft for putting himself through such indignities again. Now I realize just why he needed to."

Ciel kept silent, encouraging her to reveal more about his butler's history. But when her lips latched onto his neck, he realized that she wouldn't reveal any more information unless he asked.

"What do you mean by indignities?"

Her tongue was small and very wet. "Why, those that he suffered while serving his previous worm of a master, of course. But I can't speak for him. If Michaelis wants to share his history with you, that's his choice."

Ciel reflected on this briefly. "Who told you that he had found a new soul?" he ventured, uncaring whether he sounded overly curious or not. He was a child, after all.

Marie stopped her administrations to give him a cold stare. "Why do you ask, boy?"

He mirrored her stare, in order to mask his uneasiness and disappointment. "Sebastian is very good at keeping secrets. I find it hard to believe that anyone found out about our contract unless he told them directly."

She smiled, quite like a cheshire cat would. "Some of us are _very_ good at finding out secrets. My father is a master at this."

"Your father? You have a father?"

"Yes," she answered, caressing his cheek, "I do believe you've met?"

Suddenly, Ciel noticed that something else was in the room with them. Dead silence followed. The familiar presence was enough to make the child sick. He turned around slowly to find his worst nightmare observing him, a tall dark figure from the shadowy corner of the room, complete with glasses over calculating golden eyes.

Claude Faustus looked the same as ever, as if he had not been run through with a demon blade to his gut. In fact, he looked eerily immaculate.

"The Earl of Phantomhive is in Hell," he stated. "I can't say that I'm surprised."

"Spider Butler," Ciel hissed.

"Marie, leave us."

The door shut and clicked.

* * *

In the middle of a lovely dance to a very old song, Sebastian was not happy to feel a pang of danger from his master.

His instincts told him to rush out immediately, but the trouble was that Ciel had not actually called out to him for help, and so the location of the distress call could not be pinpointed. Such things were easier on Earth. With no direction to follow, the only thing he could do was dance.

Reminiscing on all the times that the child had been abducted and held captive, he had often wondered whether his master had actually _enjoyed_ being the damsel in distress. But, seeing as how his master was no longer human, Sebastian would like to know what the excuse was this time. He anticipated the call for his assistance, listening intently through the music.

* * *

"I am no longer a butler. I am simply a demon. Just as you are no longer an earl, Ciel Phantomhive," Claude stated. "It seems that the only one who has remained the same is the Raven, who, I'm afraid, will need to be disposed of immediately."

"What the hell do you want from us?" demanded a standing Ciel, in a voice so shrill that it revealed his fear.

Claude grinned a little. He took out a gold-plated dinner knife to inspect its sheen in the firelight. At the sight of it, the child's horrid memories began flooding back. Ciel noticed that the spider demon's hands were bare, and there was no contract to be seen, as if the mark had never been there at all.

"In the words of my previous master: I want you, Ciel Phantomhive. Sebastian Michaelis will be eradicated, and with it your current unfortunate contract. Then we will form our own as it was meant."

Ciel gritted his teeth in disgust. He had every desire, despite his hatred for this creature, to leave him alive and just break down the door in a clumsy escape. But he wanted this demon annihilated. And he was standing right there with no other witnesses around. Here was the chance to have his revenge all by himself, without the interference of Sebastian to take care of it for him. And that realization tasted sweet.

He would apologize to his servant. Hey, I know I ordered you to rip out his ribcage when we found him, but you know, he was right there and I needed to seize the opportunity, so...

He would love to see the look on Sebastian's face after that exchange.

"Where is Hannah? The triplets?"

"Gone," he put simply. "I don't take well to traitors. And I assume that you two are the reason behind the destruction of the Trancy manor?"

Ciel grinned a little smugly, trying to feign confidence. "Who else would it be? I ordered it to be burned down as soon as we defeated you on the Island of Death, naturally."

He was unfazed. In the strangest way, Ciel could understand why he was called the Spider, but he couldn't figure out how. Maybe it was just the way he carried himself. Or maybe it was because, as he moved, you could almost see his many eyes and sharp pincers, flickering around his face. Just being around him was a new lesson in revulsion.

There was also an unmistakable lure about this creature, quite like that of Sebastian, which served as a disguise for his true nature. Typically it worked, too. But this was Ciel Phantomhive, and he knew Faustus well enough not to be drawn into his web.

"You seem to have grown a little, figuratively," remarked Claude, as if seeing the object of his obsession for the first time. "You seem stronger, older, more brilliant."

Ciel quickly brought up his sleeve to wipe away a trail of blood left on his throat by Marie, his self-consciousness getting the better of him. Any moment now, he decided he would make his move to rip into his enemy's chest. He began to fantasize about what his spine would feel like in his fingers.

"You've never seemed like more of a bug," was Ciel's witty reply. "In fact, it looks like I can crush you now."

Claude visibly shivered with delight, bringing Ciel's disgust up a notch. "I expect nothing less of you. Please try your hand at it and we'll see if all you feel is revulsion," the golden-eyed one teased.

With full force, the demon child's claw made contact with the Spider's torso. The knife flew to the other side of the room. He felt blood and tissue between his fingers. He stretched out his hand and skimmed the base of the still-beating heart, flabbergasted that it beat at all.

Blood bubbled up from the Spider's smile. "What makes you think this would work a second time?" he drawled, evidently pleased at how close they were.

Terrified, Ciel felt the demon's hand close around his arm, and pull it out from his own chest without even a wince of discomfort. He looked at Ciel's arm in wonder before it folded and elbowed him in the throat. The child pinned him to the wall, fighting the urge to flee.

By then, Claude's glasses had flown off of his face. He looked into Ciel's new eyes without any attempt to hide his appetite. His hair was just beginning to fall into his face. His pupils were slit, irises in effect smoldering. These changes made him look familiar. He was looking more and more like…

Ciel shut his eyes and pressed deeper into the Spider's throat, going in to choke the life out of him. "Damn you, Trancys, damn you," he shuddered, wanting more to run than to finish the job.

"You don't have to worry about the Trancys," whispered Claude. "They no longer exist."

The child could feel something that wasn't really there. Against his better judgement was the feeling of razor sharp pincers grazing his own throat, and the crush of eight legs around his body. He couldn't breathe. He felt sticky, suffocated, drained. His arm slid down and he fell, face first, into the wound he had just inflicted on the Spider. It was warm and slippery. Before he knew it, the taste of it was in his mouth.

This couldn't have been an illusion. Ciel gasped for air, struggling not to think about the sweetness of the blood's flavour, or even the sweetness of feeling crushed. Claude, ecstatic, held the younger demon to him, hands sneaking up his shirt to flutter over his spine, and roam around to settle in the space between his collarbones.

With a single finger, Claude pierced the space. The child let out a yelp and hissed as the wound deepened. "I forbid it!" Ciel insisted, trying to will himself backwards. Once the Spider's finger was coated in blood, he brought it up to his tongue.

The surprise of its taste lit up Claude's eyes and sent his head backwards to hit the wall behind them. Crushing silence ensued.

"How I missed that, Phantomhive," he finally moaned. "But that begs the question about what has happened to your soul...It's fragrance is still strong."

Ciel felt weak and used, struggling for air against his tailcoat. He beat a fist against his enemy's chest and tried to pry himself loose and out of this spell. "Bastard, let me breathe!" he pleaded, "just let me – argh!"

The bite on his throat was neither expected nor gentle. It heightened the spell and made him feel that he was indeed in a web, being pierced and drained of whatever it was that gave him his vitality. And this presence holding him still, Claude, swooned as if intoxicated by whatever he was sampling.

The feeling in his throat was familiar, as if something was yanking on it and trying to separate it from him. He assumed this was his core, and that it was under attack.

"Air, air," the child pleaded again hopelessly. "Sebast…" A cold hand folded over his mouth to hold it shut. The torture continued on perilously, and all Ciel weeped for was his butler, wishing this creature were him instead.

Without warning, a wall went up inside his body and smacked the invading presence away.

Hell spun upside down then righted itself again as relief came to the child. Claude, locked to his throat, stopped short in surprise when he found that nothing more came out to satisfy him. He looked as if something had physically hit him.

With the spell broken, air whooshed back into Ciel's lungs. He nearly sang with the sensation of it. Claude lifted his head and watched his victim take in gulps of oxygen, obviously confused and unsatisfied, but in a spell of his own. His head fell back down and he rested his cheek against the floor, his face beside the smaller demon's face. Both were recovering.

"Once my strength...returns...look forward...to...having your... skull broken open," huffed Ciel, his eyes half-lidded. His entire being seemed to vibrate from exertion. It felt painful, and not painful, and he just felt the need to push it all as far away as possible.

The Spider demon could hardly speak either, his body, for lack of a better word, quivering. "What has Hannah done to you?" he asked hoarsely.

Ciel refused to answer, and refused to acknowledge the pleasure that laced his enemy's voice. Above all, he refused to pay attention to how hot his breath was in his ear. He tried rolling over on his stomach, away from his attacker, to push himself up from the floor. Then he wondered at what point they had gotten to the floor anyway.

Through his foggy mind, he began calculating how to take out this demon once and for all while he was still immobile. Though, he felt he hadn't the strength for anything significant, like breaking open his head for instance. All his strength had been sucked out.

He finally managed to sit up and lean against the sofa that he and Marie had been chatting on, not ten minutes earlier. He wondered whether Marie would be back to aid her "father" but, then again, she didn't seem like the loyal type.

Out loud, he said, "Sebastian," and shut his eyes expectantly.

* * *

The air in the room shifted slightly as the demon butler made his elegant entrance. In the next second, waves of rage lapped at the walls of the blood-stained room.

"Should I even ask what has just occurred here?" Sebastian spat, seething at the sight of the still-swooning Trancy butler. He made ready to thrust a silver dinner knife at his head, but Ciel held up a weary hand.

"Don't. I want to do it. Just...tie him up or something while you still can."

"Are you alright, master? You look as white as snow." He hauled the Spider up to his knees and, pulling out a peculiar set of handcuffs, clicked them around his wrists behind his back. He then whispered something nasty into his ear, and let him drop back down to the floor with a thud.

He touched his gloved fingers to the boy's face, a look of utmost concern in his eyes. Then Sebastian tasted his soft lips for a moment, suspicious of the cause for this weakness. Something felt wrong – someone else had sampled his young master's soul. He _felt_ it. He pulled back in painful astonishment. Livid, he rose and circled back to the Spider with every intention of murder.

"Don't you dare!" shouted Ciel.

His butler stopped in his tracks, his back to his master.

"With all due respect, my lord, what happened to your previous order of making him eat his ribcage?" The agony in his butler's voice then was unmistakable, venom at the same time dripping from it. "I should like to follow it now."

"I am just as much a demon as you are, and I say that _I_ need to kill him," Ciel insisted desperately.

"That is if we figure out how. There is no reason why this creature should still draw breath," hissed Sebastian. He whipped around, finally directing his anger at his master. "He has wronged me just as much as you, _my lord_. In fact, I should say he has wronged me more."

"Don't be ridiculous! Stand down and – "

With his lithe fingers, Sebastian gripped his master's jaw. "He took you from me. He _took_ you, from _me."_

The boy shuddered at the ferocity in front of him. He could never recall a time when Sebastian repeated a whole sentence to get his point across, but he sort of prayed to a higher power that he would never use the tactic again. All the same, he would not be denied his fury.

"You idiot," Ciel sputtered back. "He took _you_ away from _me!_ "

Sebastian's fingers loosened considerably. The smile that graced his lips then was so sudden and so heartfelt that Ciel wasn't sure whether his butler had in fact been made human somehow. Then in his mind, Marie's voice echoed around in his head saying that Sebastian's range of emotion was intentionally kept a mystery.

His teeth were extremely visible and sharp when he grinned, however. "Now just what have I done to deserve a thing like you, my lord?"

Ciel smiled back. "Absolutely nothing, dog. Now get off of me and make sure that our prisoner stays detained until I come up with a plan."

* * *

Author's Note

 _Plot twist...~ Drop me a comment to let me know what you think?_


	11. When Faced with Truth, Keep Calm

**Chapter XI: When Faced with Truth, Keep Calm**

* * *

Claude Faustus's shivers were lessening now. It was obvious that his strength was returning to him with the passing of time, or rather, the spell he had been under from snacking on an off-limits-soul was evaporating.

"What kind of handcuffs are those?" asked Ciel offhandedly, confident that they would hold the prisoner simply for the fact that Sebastian had procured them.

"Demon handcuffs, of course, covered in holy symbols and laced with the appropriate incantations. I borrowed them from some friends."

Ciel smiled. "I wish I had known about those sooner," he remarked slyly, leaving it at that.

Sebastian didn't know whether to be offended or excited, or whether this statement was even directed at him, so he also left it at that. Besides, he didn't have much room to feel anything other than disgust at the unwelcome company on the floor.

Even disheveled and covered in blood, any woman (or man, for that matter) would admit to Claude's looks. And depending on whether you found spiders really beautiful or really creepy predetermined how you felt about this particular demon. As he sat upright, he stared at Sebastian without a trace of fear, remorse, or any kind of discernible emotion.

"Sebastian Michaelis," he greeted unpleasantly.

"Claude Faustus," returned the Raven.

"You'll be happy to know that your _master_ enjoyed his time in my web," snarked Claude. "And I should think that with time, he'll learn to crave it."

"Have you no shame?" barked Ciel. "You look like a gutter rat. You have no business talking about what I do or do not want." The child demon rose from his seat, hiding the weakness he still felt as best he could, and retrieved the glasses thrown about during the struggle.

"Do you see this?" the child asked. He then proceeded to crumble the spectacles in his fist until it felt like dust was coming out and dropping to the floor. "If not, I'm sure you heard it. This is what I want your bones to do."

Both of the older demons shivered a little at the display. Now Ciel could piece together why they did this, and it wasn't all that comforting to understand. He sat back down in his chair, pale and exhausted, forsaking the attention of the room.

Sebastian held a knuckle up to his lips in thought. "Perhaps that's the answer, my lord. Perhaps he cannot survive if there is no body left to survive with. We could try – "

"Burning him?" Ciel finished. "But it sounds like such a plain way to destroy him…"

Sebastian grinned. "Trust me, there is nothing plain about burning someone alive, master."

Claude still showed no fear. What he showed, if Ciel could define it, was a dark variety of curiosity. "As much as it makes me sick to see how close you've become to your butler, Phantomhive, I am glad about the changes you have undergone."

"Changes," the boy snarled. "I feel more like myself than I ever have before," he denied.

"Then could it be, perhaps, that you simply enjoy being a demon more than being human? Imagine that. Truly, the world has never seen something like you before."

The child sat up straight, frustrated that they were even engaging in conversation, and even more frustrated that compliments were being forced upon him. The hatred in his eyes was clearly evident. Sebastian ached to bring his master some kind of satisfaction by inflicting pain on their adversary, but he needed the command first.

"Burning, huh?" Ciel mused to himself, looking down on Faustus. "Somehow, Sebastian, I feel that he would enjoy anything we do to him just because I order it. I would not want him to enjoy his death under any circumstances."

"Indeed," both older demons agreed. They testily met eyes.

Ciel put a finger to his temple. "At the same time, though, I'm not sure I'd care because I know I would enjoy it, and that's all that matters. Let's see…" His eyes scanned for the golden knife Claude had dropped. He pointed to it. Sebastian retrieved it and stood before his master.

Ciel held out his hand to receive the knife, and once in his hand, he turned it over to observe the sharpness of its edge. Then he lifted his eyes to those of the Spider.

"What would hurt you most, Faustus?" A second time, he rose despite his present weakness, and poised himself over the pitiful demon, waiting patiently for a response.

"Nothing you do can possibly hurt me, Your Highness."

Ciel's face went dark. "Don't call me that," he warned. "You only make your death slower."

"He is trying to provoke you," Sebastian assured him from behind. "If at any time your disgust becomes too high, I am more than willing to continue your work until he is at least unresponsive."

Emotionless as ever, Claude kept his eyes trained on Ciel's. "To be killed by the soul I covet most would be the greatest honor," he mused, eye color flickering. "Even if it is unattainable."

Ciel grinned in irony. "You know nothing of honor, you horrid beast," he stated, then plunged the knife directly into the Spider's throat. There was no sound of pain. The feeling of blood trailing down Ciel's hands was of little comfort. Claude spat out more onto the floor below him, for the most part unaffected.

This was educational for Sebastian. If he had ever dared to make his master this angry, perhaps this is what he could expect as punishment. But then again, he understood how Claude felt. The villain probably didn't regret anything, just as Sebastian wouldn't if he were in his shoes. If his master intended to make the Spider feel regret, he was wasting his time.

"Do you have any other ideas?" asked Ciel to his butler, apparently unsatisfied.

"Presently, your guess on how to kill him is as good as mine, seeing as how the demon sword did not do its job," he replied. "If you are opposed to burning him, we could just lock him up for awhile. Many demons punish each other in this way."

Ciel turned his head to his servant. "What good will that do?"

Sebastian bowed his head slightly. When he looked down on Claude, the pupils in his eyes dilated in a terrible sign of his hatred for this creature, who had decided to make a nuisance of himself. "He wouldn't have the opportunity to feast on any other souls, and thus he would starve gradually," he answered.

" _You're_ starving," Ciel pointed out to the butler, "and I see no evidence of pain."

Sebastian put a hand to his chest. "My apologies for not showing it, my lord. But not all pain is visible. One's innermost turmoil is the greatest torture. You of all people should understand that."

The child stared at the floor in acknowledgment of this answer. He slid the knife back out from Claude's neck and held it steady, observing his reflection, not enjoying what he saw staring back at him. That was a child he had no desire to know – and yet, he knew himself perfectly.

All he could think about suddenly was what Sebastian may look like if he hadn't mastered hiding his pain, how unmanageable he would be, how devastated Ciel would feel just knowing that he was responsible. Guilt rose up like a tidal wave to drown him. He sat back down in fatigue on the sofa and crumpled into himself, under the watch of two very hungry demons. The knife clattered to the floor.

"Sebastian," he muttered meekly, "how are you?"

"How am I? Please worry about yourself, master." His butler approached him and, pulling down his glove to expose his wrist, offered himself to the young master. Hesitant, the child demon gratefully took a bite, toning down his guilt in the process.

"That's an interesting scenario," Claude reflected coldly. "As if your infatuation with him while he was human wasn't odd enough. Now I'm certain you don't even remember what a contract is meant to look like."

Sebastian winced in momentary pain. "My master and I are determining a new set of rules," he slyly explained to the Spider. "Our contract is however we define it now. Not that you can understand that."

"I believe I can," the other shot back. "Don't forget the great lengths I went to in order to redefine mine."

"I have not forgotten," he murmured. "You will never tangle yourself in our contract again. I have said it before. He is _my_ young master."

The boy finished his refreshing snack and motioned for space.

"I am more like him than you will ever be," Claude pressed. "We are a greater match."

Ciel's fist pounded down on the arm of the sofa. "Silence!" he snapped shrilly. "Whatever illusions you have, banish them now. We are nothing alike. And even if we were, I don't want to associate with anyone who reminds me of myself."

Sebastian wiped away the evidence of the snack from his master's lips.

"Do you know why you have no chance of success, Spider?" Ciel continued, gaining strength. He had Claude's interest, at least his way of expressing it. "It's because you betrayed Alois Trancy. That human might have deserved to die, but not like he did, not as uselessly as he did. I actually felt sympathy for him before he moved on out of my head. Your actions tell me that you could betray me if another soul caught your eye, and I don't play with chess pieces that betray me."

Immediately, he turned to his servant. "Where is the Lævateinn? What did you do with it?"

Sebastian froze and met the furious eyes of his little master.

The child demon's anger was very obvious as he spoke. His mismatched eyes went bright magenta. "As per Hannah's definition, it should have destroyed him. The only explanation I can come up with is that it wasn't the real sword, and, judging by how surprised you were when you first saw it, you hadn't actually laid eyes on the thing until Claude revealed it to you for the first time. Did you or did you not handle the sword before the duel?"

Claude smiled eerily. "The young master is quite a detective," he teased, rising to his feet, hands bound behind his back.

"I did not handle the sword before the day of our duel, master," Sebastian admitted. "I had only seen drawings of it and heard of its powers. Hidden in Hannah Anafeloz's body, I assumed that it was the one and only demon sword, not that she would be hiding a decoy."

Ciel put a hand to his head, looking so irritable that he might split the floor with nothing but the force of his temper. "It is apparent that I still have much more to teach you. One rule about being a butler: never make assumptions."

"You have endangered the life of your master with your carelessness," Claude taunted. "I daresay you aren't much of a butler at all, Sebastian Michaelis."

At the door was a light knock. After a few moments of silence, there was a click. It effectively splintered on its way open until it allowed the entrance of Marie to this pleasant reunion.

* * *

The little girl surveyed the room and rested her round eyes on Claude. She pointed at him. "I leave for a few minutes and the tables are already turned on you, father."

"Father?" asked Sebastian bluntly.

"Yes, Sebastian. Does it need an explanation?" she griped, evidently already familiar with who he was. Her curls bounced as she eyed Ciel.

"It may," Sebastian prompted. "I've known you for some time and you never shared this detail."

"It's not as if you ever asked," was her counter as she closed the door behind her. "I call him my father. He has been my companion for many years. We have helped each other muddle through numerous contracts, and we have shared meals during lean times. That's more than I can say for you, Michaelis, you selfish and prideful devil."

"I don't share souls, Levontre," he asserted to the girl, as if this was the continuation of a prehistoric argument. "Especially when I have done all the work of cultivating them."

Ciel felt about ready to jump someone and just escape up the fireplace. All three of these demons had experience contracting with souls, and he had spent hardly enough time as a fiend of Hell to feel he belonged in this conversation anymore. But, as fate would have it, he was the center of their undivided attention, whether he wanted it or not.

"Your order, master? This company is far too much even for my stomach," Sebastian finally insisted. "If you prefer, I shall handle them both myself and leave you to pleasantly rest."

"Lock them both away," he resolved. "I don't care where."

* * *

Later, the earl was figuratively exhausted. Sebastian thought that he looked like a wind-up doll that had run out of the energy to play music. The child lay on his back in his familiar bedroom in Hell, staring up at the ceiling with his eyes practically closed. He didn't seem glum, or angry, or anything of the sort. Just blank. This is not the state he wanted his young master to be in.

"It was a decoy," muttered the child.

Sebastian was dabbing at Ciel's wounds with a warm cloth. Over and over again, he replayed in his mind how he had locked away the Trancy butler and his small companion into one of the deeper Circles, where there were many more sounds of painful screaming rather than music. He was very happy to be rid of them, but severely disappointed that this is what he and his master needed to resort to. He didn't even get to make Faustus eat his own ribcage.

"The entire time, the Trancys were toying with us," Ciel added listlessly. He dropped his arm over his eyes.

"Please don't move, young master, I'm nearly done," Sebastian insisted quietly.

The child went silent once more. He might as well have been made of granite.

Sometimes, Sebastian wished that he had cared more about himself. When he had first heard rumors of the Lævateinn, he wasn't much concerned about it even though he knew what it was capable of. A demon sword to destroy demons. Logical enough. Why would he care? The less demons the better. If it destroyed him one day, he wouldn't care about that either. There was no point to develop feelings of concern, no matter how intimidating the object of destruction looked in cave symbols, drawings, or paintings. He just hadn't given a damn about it.

Now his thoughts about the sword were the complete opposite. He had something he needed to protect at all costs: a young master. A precious doll, a worthy companion, a lasting source of entertainment. He simply could not and would not lose Ciel Phantomhive. This Lævateinn needed to be erased from existence for the security of not only himself, but for his master.

The late earl let out a small, delicate yawn and shut his eyes. Sebastian couldn't help but smile.

Concern wasn't so alien to him anymore. He had learned what that felt like early on during this contract through sheer experience in dealing with the daily misadventures of this child. After Ciel had been reborn as a demon, Sebastian had miscalculated his own emotions and had assumed that everything he had worked for had been ripped to shreds, and with it, his obligation to be concerned. His master was for all intents and purposes dead, so Sebastian would for all intents and purposes _feel_ dead.

All he used to think about in the beginning was how ravished he was, and how he would feel like that forever. _Forever._ Truly aware of what that word meant, the only remedy for his fate was to try and feel as dead as he could possibly manage. While continuing to be a butler, that is.

"Please lift your head a bit higher, sir."

That conclusion had proven to be false. True, Sebastian no longer felt _obligated_ to be concerned – but he simply was anyway. He couldn't be sure precisely when this switch had taken place. Though it certainly hurt like Hell to care this much about one tiny little master, it made this universe seem alive.

Sebastian could even argue that he had found his favorite color. It was the color of Ciel Phantomhive's blue eyes – the coldest, darkest, most alluring blue he had ever beheld.

"You're taking too long," cautioned Ciel. "I would have had this done ages ago. Are you thinking about something?"

"Yes," Sebastian answered. He withdrew the washcloth and deposited it into the pail with a _slosh_.

"I see you're not in the mood for sharing," his master observed. "I won't ask. It would probably disturb me, anyway."

The butler smiled. "It might," he agreed. "Truth be told, I was just thinking about the color of your eyes."

Ciel held up his hand. "Quaint. Shut up now."

Sebastian held a finger up to his lips to signal that he would indeed stay quiet.

The young demon sighed and sank into the pillows, mulling over the sickening reunion with Faustus again. His throat still ached. He felt very hungry. He also wasn't sure about this silence. The only thing he was presently happy about was the fact that he had gotten to crush the Spider Butler's glasses, which he had actually been wanting to do since they first met.

"Am I really like the Spider?" the young master wondered. "I don't think I am. Why would he say that? Why would any demon claim such a thing?" The child folded his hands over his stomach. When Sebastian didn't give any answer, the young lord gave him an unreadable look.

"At any rate, where did you lock them away? Somewhere painful, I hope."

The butler was still spitefully silent, grinning down at his master with sarcasm.

"Oh just speak. Damn demon."

"As much as I would have liked to put them in such a place, demons don't feel pain here unless it is inflicted by something or someone. Humans, however, feel pain regardless."

Ciel didn't bat an eye. "There is no one here to carry out punishment on demons?" he prodded.

"None," replied Sebastian. "If a demon wants another punished, they do the punishing themselves, or bribe someone into doing it for him. As you can imagine, it becomes a full-time job and requires an artful hand."

Ciel nearly laughed. "For a bunch of rabid beasts, that sounds remarkably civil." He sat up and let Sebastian prop up a pillow behind his back. "Who do we bribe, and what is the cost?"

Sebastian snickered. "You _are_ the Queen's Watchdog," he mused happily. "Anyone who is willing to assist another demon will take a bribe, most likely in the form of souls."

"That doesn't surprise me," the earl commented.

"Is this something you wish to pursue? You haven't even begun a contract yet. Perhaps you should explore that first before bribing another demon, so that you know what that sacrifice entails."

Ciel frowned deeply, suddenly put out by the notion. "I see. Sacrifice. It's a matter of priorities."

Sebastian carefully watched the expression of his young master. "You do intend to make a contract with a human, my lord?"

The child visibly sank down into his comfortable bed. He crossed his arms and stared out at the wall.

Sebastian smiled down at him. "I thought this might happen," he chuckled. "My young master would never want to have a master of his own. You simply aren't meant for serving others."

"The Queen is the only one I answered to," the little earl snapped. "And now I answer to no one."

The older demon stifled a shudder of delight. "I wouldn't desire your soul any other way," he confided, practically licking his lips.

Ciel turned away from his demon butler to hide the smile that was forming against his will. "There is perhaps one soul I would pursue with a contract."

"Oh?"

"Well, if you had one, you'd be first on my list," he confessed. "But… I think… Lizzy has a soul worth pursuing. Not that I would ever – I mean, she has a long life ahead of her. And I would never use her in a bribe of any sort. Do you know what I mean?"

He expected a sly answer. Nothing was uttered. His servant was far too quiet. Ciel worked up the nerve to turn back around and figure out why this was, but he was met with a look of utter shock.

"What did I say?" asked Ciel irritably.

"...If I had a soul of my own, you would contract with me?" Sebastian murmured. His eyes were comically wide, his eyebrows knit together.

The look on the handsome butler's face was priceless, and Ciel finally laughed outright at him. He shut his eyes and held his head in an attempt to make it stop, but it took awhile to dissipate. Cosmos exploded, obviously.

"You know, you can be quite pitiful sometimes," Ciel chuckled. "Of course I would, you dolt. I can think of no one more interesting."

In record time, the older demon's eyes ignited. Ciel's had barely begun to glow before Sebastian dragged his master into his arms, and planted a sharp kiss over his delicate mouth. The younger demon put up no struggle at all and enjoyed the urgency.

Sebastian's entire being felt like it was diving into this pliant creature when he pulled at the chained soul deep down inside. Ciel Phantomhive was most certainly going to be the death of him. He actually looked forward to it.

 _I want you, I need you, you delicate, delicious little monster,_ he wanted to whisper into the young demon's ear, among other sentimental phrases. But he wouldn't slip like that. He was a butler. He simply settled for digging his face into his master's neck with glee.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_**

 _Apologies, Claude Faustus fans! I just enjoy hurting him. The young master has a lot of pent-up anger that needs to be taken out on_ _something. PS. Happy Valentines Day!~ :)_


	12. When Dying, Make a Wish

_Author's Note:_

 _I know, it's been awhile! Don't maul me. I've had more illustration work and personal projects to plan, so free time is very precious. Hope that this chapter satiates your proverbial hunger with a few unexpected twists. ;)_

 _As always, your reviews and faves are super appreciated. You guys are awesome!_

* * *

Chapter XII: When Dying, Make a Wish

* * *

White roses were always the Young Master's favorite flower, Sebastian used to tell him. Finny thought they suited Ciel very well. He couldn't point out why, just that they did. He wasn't a very articulate person, so he wasn't good at figuring those kinds of things out.

It was bad to think about those two so much, but he couldn't help it. They had saved his life. The more he thought about the Phantomhive household, the more he seemed to see his master and the butler everywhere he went. He would see them in faces on the street, in the corner of his eye, and even down shadowy alleyways.

The servants, despite their promises, deserted each other. A broken-hearted Tanaka was the last to formally leave the manor. Finny found gardening work for much smaller, humbler homes. He didn't know what became of anybody else. Maybe Bard had gone back to the States, and Mey-Rin had become a maid for someone with less dishes. He didn't even want to think about where Snake was.

" _We're servants for the House of Phantomhive. We need to stick together,_ " Bard had said to the group. At the time they were all empty shells, pining for the Young Master to return. But when he didn't, when the days really began to drag on… they realized that he wasn't coming back.

Finny sighed. Presently, his boss was an old woman who could no longer tend to her garden, and so she hired him to trim the weeds. It wasn't anything as glamorous as the Phantomhive Estate's grounds, but at least he was outside. Soaking up the sunlight.

Ciel's adorable gloomy face flashed through his mind again. He rubbed the back of his neck and continued to trim away at more plants, taking care not to overdo anything.

" _What's your name?_ " the master had asked when they first met, when he had finally broken through the surface and had seen the moon with his own eyes. How was he supposed to know what a name was?

Finny bit his lip, trying to hold back tears that had just gone for a swim in his large eyes. He wanted to throw the hedgeclippers down and run away to a place where he could cry, but he scolded himself.

He did his best impression of Sebastian. "That's not professional,' Sebastian would say. 'You're a gardener. Act like one." He rubbed at a teary eye.

The sun was setting, so he wouldn't be able to work soon. He hurriedly snipped at the last bush and was about to put away his tools, when he heard a slight rustling in the trees nearest to him.

He held up the hedgeclippers timidly. "Is someone there? It's very late to visit, you know. Tomorrow morning would be a better time…"

The rustling persisted. He saw shadows rush through the foliage, but he couldn't make out what it was. Probably a deer. Finny smiled and lowered his "weapon," convinced it was nothing to be worried about. He began picking up everything he had used that day and put it in his box, much like a child puts away his toys after playing with them for awhile.

He suddenly spotted a pair of eyes peering at him from up in one of the trees. They were bright. He thought that light glinted off of them, but upon staring back for a while to figure out if they were imaginary, it actually looked like they gave off their own light, as if they were glowing.

Finny shut his eyes and shook his head to get rid of the illusion. But when he looked again, the eyes were still there. They were a bright yellow-green. He was suddenly afraid and felt he should get away as fast as he could. But he couldn't move from his spot – his feet were planted where he stood.

"Sh-sh-shoo," the blonde stuttered, believing it to be a wild animal. He didn't like that it watched him from up in the tree.

There was some kind of noise – no, a _laugh._

"Who are you? What do you want?" asked Finny in a tremulous voice.

"Finnian..." it whispered. It dropped down from the tree as a large shadow. The boy looked about ready to have an accident.

"That's your given name, right?" An artificial blond in large glasses and a suit poked his head out from the shadows. "My name is Knox. Ronald Knox. And I'll be your reaper this evening."

Finny wasn't mistaken when he thought the eyes were glowing. They really were. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Reaper?" he squeaked.

"Hey, don't worry, happens to the best of us," Ronald assured him. "You've got a few minutes left. Just don't cause any trouble, OK?"

Finny's shoulders went up as he hugged himself, eyes large, evidently upset and confused. "You mean the _grim_ reaper? I'm – I'm going to die?!"

Knox scratched his head. "Not _the_ grim reaper. Just a reaper. And yeah, kid. I don't know why everyone acts so surprised." He had his lawn mower of a death scythe prepared for any funny business. The irony was that he was going to use a gardening tool to reap a gardener. He pulled out a book and opened it to read.

"Hmm... Number 12… Oh, you poor thing. Jeez, I'm really sorry about this."

Finny looked at the ground, shaking all over. "How do I die?"

"The book says something about your injections complicating a problem in your brain. But seriously, don't worry about it. You won't even know what hit you." Ronald walked up to the boy and offered a smile to comfort him. "You have any friends you're looking forward to seeing again?"

Finny met his eyes steadily for the first time. "Yes," he quietly answered. "Just one."

Ronald grinned. "Ciel Phantomhive?"

"You know him!" cried Finny. "Were...Were you his reaper too?"

"Hah! I wish. No, he didn't get one."

Finny took off his hat and held it in his hands, happy this person was at least friendly, but still very confused. "What do you mean? Why not?"

Ronald innocently went to rustle the kid's hair, but Finny jolted back instinctively. Looking at the ground, the reaper took a step back to give the human some space.

"Why not?" Finny repeated angrily. "Where is the Young Master?"

"Hell," the reaper answered gravely. "He's in Hell. He did it to himself. He dug himself into a hole and couldn't get back out of it."

Finny had his hands over his face. Tears were freefalling down his cheeks. He was sniffling and hiccuping. "Young Master," he whispered, and let out a scream of anger no one had ever heard from him before.

"Hey, I get it. I can only imagine how his parents feel about his predicament. Anyway, your time is almost up. Now's a good time to start saying any last words you've got." Ronald gripped his death scythe in anticipation.

"Last…?" Finny tightened his hands into fists. "Can you get the Young Master out of Hell?"

"Sorry, kid, I'm not authorized to do that."

The gardener spilled more tears. Honestly, Ronald had never seen a human cry this much before their death. Well, maybe he had, but he never encountered one that was this heartbreaking. He almost felt guilty.

"Then...take me there. Take me to Hell. I just want to be with him!"

Ronald was amazed. He couldn't deny that this kid had courage. But he was also an idiot. He smiled and shrugged. "If that's where you want to rest, fine by me." He propped one foot up on the lawn mower, and waited patiently for his cue.

Right on time, Finny felt a telltale shiver pass through his body. He closed his eyes and dropped on all fours. He fleetingly felt the manicured grass between his fingers before he fell completely to the ground.

Ronald stood still to give the soul a moment of silence, then watched as the cinematic record floated out before him. As always, the record itself was a beautiful thing, a stream of light coming from the corpse that waved through the air, the same way that seaweed moved to and fro in the current at the bottom of the ocean. Resentfully he observed it, and thought how sad it was that the record was this short. It would be only a little longer than Phantomhive's. He didn't care to watch its contents in any detail; what he glimpsed was gory and tragic enough.

With one tug of the cord to his death scythe, the engine started. He swung the lawn mower through the record to cut it and collect the soul. Finny's beam of light disappeared into the custody of Ronald Knox, who had made a promise to take his essence to Hell.

"You poor thing," Ronald repeated sadly. "But this may be a good turn of events. Perhaps you'll be useful to the Reaper Dispatch if you're this attached to our two favorite targets." On his way off to find a nearby door into the Underworld, he mumbled something about overtime as a result of souls demanding last-minute wishes.

* * *

/-/

* * *

Deep in the forest that flanked the house Finny had been working for, there was a large, gnarled redwood tree. Around it was an air of death, as if someone had sucked out the oxygen from a quarter of a mile all around the hideous thing. Ronald didn't like the sight of it. But this was part of his job sometimes. Approaching the tree, he tilted his head back to view its massive size, and observe that its many tangled branches blocked out the purple sky. If it was necessary to breathe, he would have suffocated long before reaching this destination.

"Alright, kid, time to go," he announced. "I think you're off your rocker for choosing this fate, but you know what, it's not my job to convince you what to do." With another pull on the lawn mower, the engine started, and out came Finny's beam of light. It hovered in Ronald's hand as a lovely pearl-like orb of energy.

The reaper knocked twice on the trunk of the tree, then stepped back. The ground rumbled underneath his shoes. Before his eyes, carvings of ancient symbols and patterns appeared. An outline revealed that this was a large, ornate, and heavy door. As a young reaper, he didn't know what any of them meant, nor did he feel that he had any business in learning them. The door swung open on its hinges with a long and eerie creaking noise. Stairs, illuminated by a red glow coming from somewhere deep underneath the earth, led down into the realm in which Ronald dared not enter himself.

He held out his hand to send the young soul on its way. "Send my regards to Ciel Phantomhive."

Finny's soul was pulled into the door and whisked away out of Ronald's sight. He sighed, took off his glasses to clean them off, and listened to the sound of the door close itself off from Earth.

* * *

/-/

* * *

He couldn't see anything.

"Young Master!" his voice echoed. "Young Master, I'm here! Where are you? Young Master!"

Finny's eyes were having a hard time adjusting to this different light. He was awake, his head was foggy, and he was afraid. But he remembered what he had done. He remembered that he was dead, and that this was not Heaven.

"Young Master!" he shouted louder.

"Be quiet, you fool!" echoed back a sinister voice. "What are you doing here?"

Finny jumped in fright. He saw grass, very dark grass. Or perhaps it was just dark in general, and this was normal grass. It smelled like smoke. He assumed there was a fire nearby. He then saw a hedge of what looked like twisted red rose bushes. The unmistakable feeling of ivy brushed his ankles as he searched for something solid to touch.

"Are you blind?" the same voice asked. "You stumble around like a mouse who has just escaped from an empty bottle of wine."

"I think I-I-I'm lost," Finny stammered. "Could you help me find someone?"

"That depends. What will you give me?" it asked.

"Whatever you want," he pleaded. "I need to find my Young Master. His name is Ciel Phantomhive."

The voice let out a high-pitched squeal of a laugh, its consistency like two metal rakes grating against each other. Finny covered his ears desperately.

"Ciel Phantomhive!" it exclaimed. "What a popular devil he is. Why would you want to find him?"

It was all Finny could do not to whimper from the pain in his ears. But it was ebbing away. He prayed that this thing wouldn't laugh anymore.

"He's my only friend. I-I came to see him. If you please – please – help me find him." Finny's hand went into a sharp knot of thorns, and he snatched his fingers back with a cry of pain. "Is this a garden?"

"Of course it is, what did you think it was?"

"And this is Hell?" he squeaked.

The voice released another one of its awful screeching laughs. Finny's knees buckled and he gritted his teeth together. "You are indeed lost, little mouse," the presence giggled shrilly. "I shall take pity on you and lead you to your Young Master, but you need to give me something for my trouble."

"I'll do anything you ask," Finny insisted. "Please just – just – "

Something sharp hit his mouth. With his lips shut, Finny screamed, certain now that this presence was the opposite of a human being, whatever that was. The thorns felt like a hand, tightly clamped over his mouth.

"I don't want anymore of your begging. Stay quiet, or I refuse to help at all," it hissed unpleasantly.

Finny nodded his head wildly and was relieved to have the thorns off of his face. He was certain he was bleeding. Fresh tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Because I'm so generous, I'll make this easier on your eyes," the voice/thorns quietly said. "Here."

A cold, refreshing sensation swept over Finny's eyes. This cold made him realize how hot he actually felt at the moment, and wondered if there was any water to be found that would make him feel better. Regardless, he rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times, and his surroundings grew brighter. The light was enough to see clearly with.

He was in a garden, all right. The size of a large courtyard, it was very overgrown, but not much life existed in it. Nonetheless, it was a garden of some sort. Between patches of grass, there were sparse flowers popping up. And the trees and bushes that lined the outside all grew dark flowers as well. Around its perimeter were crumbling walls, and above him, the sky was red.

As much as he searched, though, Finny couldn't find the source of this voice.

"Let's point you in the right direction…" it suddenly stated, "I wouldn't want to be responsible for making you more lost than you already are, little rodent." It's giggles indicated that it was being sarcastic. "Let me see. The small devil is in _that_ direction."

Finny turned around in a circle trying to find where this voice meant, but there were no signs of what it was trying to say.

"No, perhaps the other way after all. He and his butler would be at the dance hall by this time."

Finny was just about ready to collapse. "B-Butler… Mister Sebastian?!"

The shrill voice's next round of laughter did send Finny to his knees. It bounced off the walls of the courtyard. "So you know him too! My, how a mouse gets friends in such high places is something I'll never understand. Yes, I do believe they are in the dance hall right now. Be on your way, and I'll ask for my favor later."

"Where? What direction do you mean?" Finny cried.

It began to get dark again. Finny thought that he was losing his sight. But the darkness approached as a solid mass, all at once, and moved irregularly. Finny thought it looked like ink that he had accidently sent flying through the air of his master's study one day, only this was much slower.

On it, he could see thorns, like those you'd find in a rose bush – and two large, bright magenta eyes.

"That way," it replied, lending a tendril of thorns to Finny's left. Finny followed with his eyes to spot a trail leading out of the garden, to a large structure off in the distance. "Leave. I'll find you later."

"Thank you. But – what are you?" Finny asked, unable to hide his shock and awe at this creature's strange appearance.

"I'm a demon that snacks on rodents," the thing answered. "Get out of my garden."

Finny had enough. He ran out of there as fast as he could, dust trailing behind him, down the winding trail. The dirt crunched under his shoes with every step, the only sound next to his heavy breathing.

* * *

/-/

* * *

Grell Sutcliff wasn't totally on board with the whole "Ciel Phantomhive" project. When Will had begrudgingly invited him into the operation per the superiors' request, he stated the reason was that Grell knew Sebastian Michaelis better than any other reaper at the dispatch.

"As if that makes me a good candidate for the project," Grell had whined. "You're asking me to betray a handsome man for the sake of my job – no sir, I'll have none of it!"

"This is your freedom we're talking about, Mr. Sutcliff. Please consider. How much value do you place on your relationship to that creature?"

"Quite a lot, for your information," the redhead pouted. "It's just one soul, anyway. I doubt the world will miss it much."

William T. Spears also had Ronald Knox in his office at the time. The three of them were discussing the matter with the door closed off to the hallway, so that no one would overhear.

"As we get closer to our targets, it is more crucial than ever for you to assist us with this," Will insisted to Grell. "This is not about the fate of Phantomhive's human soul. It's about what he will do as a demon that we are trying to prevent."

"What he will do as a demon, you say?" Ronald piped in. "I'd love to know what that is. I didn't deliver the innocent soul of a gardener into Hell for nothing."

"I am not at liberty to share any details about that," Will insisted to the blonde; seemingly for the tenth time that day. "In any case… Mr. Sutcliff, if you don't want to be a part of this project and instead continue working for the dispatch, I will not stop you. But please do not share any details about this with anyone else, otherwise, you will be demoted, or worse."

Grell rolled his eyes and shifted his weight to one heeled foot. "I think it's bad enough that the superiors are ordering us to intervene at all," he retorted. "Ronald agrees, don't you hun?"

"I do," Ronald admitted. "It makes no sense to me either. Doesn't it feel odd to you, Senpai?" he asked Will.

Now, Mr. Spears was not a man who asked questions about his duty. He did what he needed to do, without any thought about the job, any thought about the fate of his collected souls, or any thought about whether they did or did not deserve death when he delivered it. The result: He did his job smoothly.

But he had to admit that something seemed off about this project. He could just conclude that the boy and his leashed beast were a continual nuisance, even while away from Earth. Though, the trouble went beyond that. The surrealism of this mission really began when the Contract Book had manifested.

"I do what I am ordered to do," Will answered stiffly.

Grell swooned a little, impressed by his stoic demeanor, but was still unwavering in his opinion. "I'm not so easily won over, I suppose," he sighed. "Unless you have any other ideas on how to separate them, other than killing the hottie, I will not take part in it."

Will nodded gravely. "If that's how you feel."

Grell met both of their eyes, tossed his hair with a gloved hand, then left the office.

Ronald watched the door shut. His face was one of confusion. "Another thing I don't understand is why Sebastian Michaelis needs to be killed. Why can't we just go the more civilized route and strictly separate him from his master? You know, lock him up somewhere? That's what I thought we would do when you first clued me in on this project."

William adjusted his glasses sternly. "You've fought that demon before, haven't you, Mr. Knox? It would be exceedingly difficult to separate him from his contractor while he is still alive."

Uncertain, Ronald ran a hand through his hair. "He was a tricky bastard when we fought, I'll give him that. But even so… This all seems so… out of the ordinary."

* * *

/-/

* * *

A red reaper strolled through the blue night once again.

Grell knocked on the door of a run-down townhouse on the outskirts of London, death scythe nestled over his shoulder. Holding down his embellished glasses, he inspected the number on the door again, certain that this was the place he sought.

The door swung back slowly with a long, dramatic creak. An eerie chuckle floated to his ears from the darkness inside. This was the unmistakable "hee hee hee," the redhead had grown to appreciate.

"Undertaker~," Grell greeted with an air of admiration. "I need your help with something. Do you have a minute?" He entered and closed the door behind him.

"I have much more than a minute, I'd say," said the rogue reaper, from within a closed coffin that was propped up against the wall. He opened it with long, bony fingers, and smiled at the redhead, hair now pushed out of his eyes to show off his scar.

"What brings you here to my shop?" Undertaker asked eerily with his classically wide grin.

"It's about – well… Do you know how to make contact with someone in Hell?"

The silver-haired one bit into one of his tasty bone-shaped biscuits and held out a hand to offer his visitor some. Grell took one eagerly.

"Why would you ever want to do that, I wonder?" mused Undertaker. "Usually humans are the ones to ask for such information."

Grell munched on his biscuit and was already taking a second one, batting his eyelashes at his host. "I need to reach Sebastian Michaelis."

"Hee hee! What for, Red? You know, the wolf will eat you if you aren't careful," he laughed, head thrown back, drooling as per usual.

"If only," Grell remarked longingly, briefly sighing at the ceiling. "I need to warn him. The dispatch is scheming behind his back, and I can't stand by while that handsome man is in danger from anyone other than myself."

A long black nail went up to the Undertaker's lips in thought. "I see," he murmured. "I don't care about what the dispatch does anymore, but I am always interested in the butler and his little master. Especially now that they've dropped their disguises."

"That's why I went to you," Grell hummed seductively. "Can't you help out a girl~?"

"I can, deary, but I have a price, you know."

"I'm aware," said the redhead. "I have these to pay it," he continued, forcing photographs of questionable integrity into the older reaper's eyes.

Undertaker keeled over with laughter at the sight. As he sifted through them, Grell settled into his chair and crossed his ankles, waiting for the laughing fit to end.

"Genius, Red, genius," Undertaker giggled, "You should take up a career in Photography. Now… I do know how to make a call to the Underworld. I am the Undertaker, after all. But it isn't that simple…"

"Just tell me what to do, hun.~"


	13. When Dead, Run to Safety

_Author's Note:_

 _~Your encouraging comments always make my day, thank you so much! This fanfiction sort of started as an experiment, and the plot has evolved over time. Although Kuroshitsuji's characters belong solely to the talented Yana Taboso, I like to think of them as my little guinea pigs for writing practice._

 _Got other personal projects you know, and Ciel and Sebastian are the perfect characters to hurl my ideas at.~_

* * *

 **Chapter XIII: When Dead, Run to Safety**

* * *

Enemies taken care of for the time being, a dance or two wasn't going to hurt.

The little lord had been shaken up by the appearance of Claude Faustus more than he cared to admit. It took him time to recover. The reality haunted him that such a creature was still alive, and even had allies. Did the others survive as well? How many times had he or Sebastian killed someone who had actually turned out in the end to survive, only to go into hiding?

Come to think of it, how absolute was death anyway? Hell, here was was, twirling on the dance floor with the very being who had vowed to deliver it to him in the first place.

"You look troubled, young master," Sebastian ventured.

"It's nothing," he denied, eyes on the entrance. He was seeing something he couldn't understand. It was a familiar figure, out of breath, searching the room with his eyes. He looked like...Well, he looked like Finny, his old gardener. He turned away from the illusion.

"Step here. This is a lively dance. It requires energy and rhythm," his butler instructed, playing the part of a tutor. "Good, now step here, one-two-three. Step here, one-two-three. Excellent! I have to say, your dancing has improved tenfold as a demon."

The boy grinned with pride. "Why don't you teach me something new, Professor?"

"Anything for my greatest student," he joked pleasantly.

"-bastian! Master! Sebastian!" a voice was calling.

Ciel and Sebastian both went as rigid as statues at the sound. _That_ is _Finny's voice_ , Ciel realized, as his stomach dropped. They turned their heads simultaneously to see the blonde gardener outside the crowd, disheveled, waving to them madly. A few other demons eyed the newcomer with hungry curiosity.

Sebastian, as frozen as his master, simply could not believe his eyes. "...Orders?" he whispered.

Ciel was also floored at seeing the familiar face. He had gotten so accustomed to being around demons that the sight of a human being, let alone one that he knew personally, was like looking directly at the sun. He couldn't give a command right away.

"Get him out of sight," he finally ordered.

Sebastian bowed slightly. "Please excuse me, then," he said, then vanished into the sea of demons for a moment. Ciel watched him appear in the next second on the other side of the crowd, cover Finny's mouth, and whisk the child away out into the hallway where no one could see him.

Finny, under Sebastian's hand, was crying happy things, tears in salty rivers down his face. He seemed overwhelmed that Sebastian was there, and was reaching out his arms with all his might to bring him in for a hug, but he was kept at bay easily.

"What are you doing here, Finny?" the tall butler asked sternly, putting a finger to his lips to motion for quiet, before taking his hand off of the blonde's mouth to let him speak.

"I'm so glad I found you and the young master, you have no idea, I missed you both so much, I can't believe – "

"You came here to see us?" he concluded in disbelief.

Finny nodded and brought his hands up to his face, eyes sparkling in that old familiar nauseating way. Sebastian mused they were the size of dinner plates. "And now we're together! It's all worth it!"

At first silent, Sebastian covered his face with a gloved hand and stood erect. He began to giggle profusely, the kind of giggle typically reserved for when he was extremely entertained. Ciel had caught up then and was huffing, astounded at the sight. Finny went to squeeze the life out of his master.

When Sebastian shifted his hand, his visible eye was a fiery fuchsia, and many teeth lined his smile. He stared down at Finny and snickered, "You truly are an incorruptible idiot."

"Why do you say that? W-What's wrong with your face, Mister Sebastian?" Finny asked.

Ciel shut his eyes and put a hand to his forehead. "You shouldn't have come here, Finny. How did you die?"

"Something about my brain, the reaper told me. Oh! By the way, that reminds me… he says to send you his regards."

Ciel bristled. "Who was your reaper?"

Finny twiddled his fingers, trying to remember the name. "It was Ron...Ronald...Well, he was mostly blonde, like me. He had a lawn mower."

Sebastian found this all even funnier. He covered his mouth to stop the laughter in its tracks. "Kids really are nasty these days," he chimed.

Ciel gave his butler a flat look, his eyes flaring up for a half a second.

Finny noticed the quick change in hue but thought nothing of it. His gaze went from the butler to the earl, and suddenly he looked confused. "I don't understand. Why are _you_ both here? What did you do that was so wrong? Young master, why does my reaper know who you are? And where did your eyepatch go, is your eye all better now?"

It seemed that their escalating conversation had piqued the interest of a few strangers. A group of demons hovered closer to them to overhear more. The late earl put a hand on Finny's shoulder. "This isn't the place to ask questions. We should go somewhere safer."

"I'm not sure that providing him with answers would be in our best interest," the butler protested smoothly.

"There is no harm in telling him if he's dead," Ciel reasoned, turning down the hallway he knew was in the direction of the room they stayed in. Sebastian lowered his head and followed his master and Finny, keeping a watchful eye for any demons with less-than-noble ideas about grabbing this snack. Finny's head went in every direction as he observed his surroundings, recoiling in fear at most of the decor.

* * *

(/)

* * *

Finally, they reached their sanctuary.

Sebastian locked the doors tight. He then lit a match and threw it into the fireplace, where it caught and grew into a blaze within the blink of an eye. Finny jumped. He was encouraged to sit down after Ciel took a seat.

"My eyes are better than ever," Ciel began, smiling. "I don't cover them anymore unless I feel like it."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that!" Finny cried, looking as if he were going to launch himself at his master for another hug. Remarkably, he restrained himself. "You seem much happier," he noted.

"I am," Ciel confessed simply. The butler, behind him, put a knuckle to his curled lips.

"What about you, Sebastian?"

"...I am also happy," he answered, hand over his heart, grateful for the concern. "The young master and I have become great friends."

At that simplistic description of their relationship, Ciel smiled wryly but didn't dare turn around to reprimand the butler with his eyes.

"I see," said Finny, a finger on his chin. "But why are you here? In Hell, I mean. This is still it, isn't it?"

Ciel rested back in his chair and crossed his legs, watching Finny's every fidget. "Yes," he confirmed. "This is Hell. And as for why we're here…"

Sebastian slid a hand across the back of Ciel's seat, inspecting his gloved fingers for dust. He moved languidly to a sideboard, where an unused tea tray was sitting, and elegantly poured a hot cup of real tea for their guest, which had apparently materialized in the pot. He held it out to Finny, who took it, bewildered at the offer, and even more bewildered to find that the teacup offered to his young master was purposely left empty.

The earl took a sip of the air from his cup.

"Young master…" Finny trailed. "Are you… Are you OK?"

Ciel smiled. "Like I said. I've never been better," he assured him, his eyes revealing their bright pink color once again. This time it was unmistakable. The gardener's teacup began shaking in his hands, making _ka-chink_ noises against the saucer it rested on.

"I must be hallucinating," Finny whispered. "I keep seeing your eyes flash, like they're electric lights." He forced a smile and took a shaky sip of his tea, being careful not to break or drop it, since it looked really expensive.

"It is no hallucination," Sebastian stated plainly. "Our eyes do indeed change color from time to time. It's something that can't be helped." He set the teapot back on the tray with a _clink._

"Why do they do that? Mine aren't doing that too, are they?!" Finny quickly set down his cup on the coffee table between him and Ciel, and rubbed his eyes like a toddler trying to get at something itchy.

Ciel rested his head in his hand, the naivete of this person beginning to grate on his nerves. "No, Finny, human eyes don't do that."

Finny lowered his fists. "Human...eyes…?"

If they wanted to show Finny what they really were without scaring the living daylights out of him, it would not be an easy task. This was a person that never saw the darkness in others. The gardener had shoved away everything about his dark past when he came to work at the Phantomhive estate, which was fine by Ciel, because that had made it easier for Sebastian to keep up his disguise the whole time. You can't notice that something is wrong if you're not willing to see it in the first place.

The boisterous blonde was uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments. His mood picked back up soon enough. "I can be useful if you let me stay!" he exclaimed. "I can work in the garden and fix those rose bushes, for starters. If you can just scare that monster away, I can go back to doing what I'm best at!"

Sebastian tilted his head in curiosity. "You saw Hell's garden?"

"Why is that important?" Ciel snarked.

"Because the garden is very dangerous. The "monster" that resides there eats souls who wander into it. Finny is lucky to be here with us right now."

"Eats…?" Finny murmured.

"Did the monster say anything to you?" asked Sebastian.

Finny looked at his shoes, which he realized were covered in dust. So was the rest of him. "He knew the young master, I think. He also said that I owe him some kind of favor."

Ciel's eyes went wide, immediately aware of the situation. He swapped a knowing glance with his butler. Though Sebastian seemed just as surprised, he shut his eyes to regain his sense of calm, then went to retrieve the teacups without a sound.

"Did I do something wrong?" the gardener practically whispered.

"That depends," his master answered. "Why do you owe this creature a favor?"

"He helped me find you. And I'm grateful, believe me... But it's so scary! It has thorns and tentacles and teeth – you have to believe me, Master. It's horrible. I don't want to go back there unless it's gone."

"It's best that you don't go back there at all," Sebastian stated. "If you love rose bushes that much, then by all means return and try to fix them. But that garden is guarded by a fearsome monster. It will eat you without a second thought."

Both demons watched the little gardener shudder in horror. He hugged himself and shut his eyes.

The young lord couldn't help but wonder at why Finny hadn't been eaten on the spot. If the garden demon was so ferocious, why did it let him go? Why even bother to help him? Any demon as ravenous as that would…

He gave his butler a sidelong glance.

Sebastian grinned. "What shall we do, young master? Obviously, a servant of the House of Phantomhive is in grave peril."

This didn't feel right. It didn't sit well to know that Finny had died so early, or that he had somehow found his way back to them. And the most curious thing of all? It didn't feel right to let just any monster devour the gardener's soul. Ciel came to the cold realization that if anyone was going to do that, it would be himself. No one else had the right.

"It looks as if we need to protect you," the younger demon concluded, a little more dramatic than he intended.

"Pr-protect me?" Finny stammered, blinking rapidly. "How will you do that?"

Ciel scoffed. "We have _him_ ," he reminded the gardener, gesturing with an open hand to Sebastian. "If I order him to protect you from the Garden Demon, then he will protect you."

Finny briefly met Sebastian's fuchsia eyes. "I'm sure Sebastian is capable of a lot of things as a butler, young master. But if it is a demon after me… what can a man do to stop it?"

The young demon sat back in his seat, an incredulous smirk on his lips as he observed the servant across from him. He shut his eyes and held a hand to his head, trying to savor all the varieties of irony he was getting today. It was simply more than he could take. When his eyes opened once more, they burned bright, identical to the butler's.

The blonde shook violently, familiar shivers running down his spine, so familiar that they might have been nostalgic. He remembered the feeling from when Sebastian used to scold him. That feeling that something was extremely wrong. "Are you certain you're OK, Master? Your eyes are… Both of your eyes are very – "

"We're not humans, Finnian," Ciel stated bluntly. "Let me try to make this clear for you. We're demons, too. Just like the one in the garden, and the ones in the dance hall. You're the only soul for miles in this place."

Finny crumpled in on himself, biting his lip. He drew in his knees and huddled in his arm chair like a two-year-old about to wail his lungs out. That was the look of someone who realized he couldn't wake from a nightmare.

Sebastian wasn't as shocked as he thought he would be about his master finally spilling the secret to someone. He was impressed, though. The scent of Finny's soul was stirring in the air.

This was one of his favorite parts about humans: As they discover the existence of demons (realizing that there is a creature who seeks specifically to devour their essence), a small change in them takes place. He compared it to milk chocolate turning into dark chocolate, becoming raw and sweetly bitter.

There were also the rare souls that already came dark. As he discovered a long time ago, the flavours of these special individuals benefitted from contracts most, becoming darker and darker as long as the demon put in the work of cultivating them.

Some demons preferred the "milk chocolate" flavour. They were the ones who enjoyed quick snacks. He didn't hold that against other fiends of Hell if that was their preference. But his palate didn't work that way. He was one who preferred the strongest, darkest flavour conceivable – hence, the soul of Ciel Phantomhive.

"I can see you need some time to absorb all this," Ciel said to his gardener. "It's not an easy thing to grasp. If you want to rest, you're welcome to stay. The room next to ours is vacant. You'll be close enough where we can make sure the monster doesn't come to get you."

Wiping his nose, Finny tried to clear the tears in his eyes by blinking them away. He was staring at Sebastian's shoes. His face suddenly scrunched as realization struck, and he made eye contact with the butler.

"Master Ciel was not a demon the last time I saw him," he accused courageously, "but _you_ were!"

The black butler was now surprised. "I didn't believe you to be this perceptive. But it is as I have told you numerous times; I am one _hell_ of a butler."

His voice was unstable. "And he became a demon because you … you ate…"

"No, he didn't get the chance to eat my soul," Ciel corrected. He crossed his legs. "There's a very long story to our relationship that I don't think you have the time for right now. For your own sake, you should at least take a nap."

* * *

(/)

* * *

Sebastian expertly massaged his master's shoulders, as familiar with his anatomy as he was with how a dinner table ought to be set. The two of them had been silent for a long time, all the while smelling the wafting fragrance of Finny's soul from the next room over. Ciel mused that the gardener was curled up into a little ball on his new bed, crying himself silly.

"He doesn't belong down here," Sebastian finally asserted. "I imagine that the only crime he has ever committed was when he decided to find us. It won't be long before other demons begin to pursue him. His candle will be snuffed out before we know it."

"Not as long as you're watching over him," the boy coldly murmured back. He flinched at the particularly rough kink Sebastian was trying to work out of his right shoulder.

"I'm not normally one to complain, but this is a lot to ask of me this time, young master. Without a contract in place, it will be hard to justify to others that he stay off limits."

Ciel's fists tightened. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing," he assured his master. He pressed his fingers into the tender muscle and found it very satisfying to the touch. He caught himself wanting to sink his teeth into it.

"He does smell delicious," the boy confessed. "It wouldn't be that hard to just swoop in there and eat him myself."

Sebastian paused. "Do you intend to do that?"

Ciel rose his shoulders to signal that the massage should continue on, and Sebastian complied. "I _am_ hungry – but I'm not sure yet. I do know that while I decide, I don't want anyone else getting any ideas. Not even you."

The butler chuckled. "You needn't worry," he cooed, and reached around to brush his master's silky bangs aside. He placed his hand over Ciel's marked eye, tracing a ring around it teasingly.

"I know," exhaled the young demon, "I'm just messing with you." He leaned his head backward, smiled, and lazily gazed up at the older demon. They stared at each other in a very sentimental fashion, forgetting themselves for a bit.

"Perhaps we could share him?" the younger demon offered.

There was weight to this proposal. Sebastian leaned down a smidgen to be closer to his master's lips. "Why would you offer that?"

His eyes were impossibly _blue._ The loveliest color in the world. "I've never seen you not hungry. I'm curious to see if you'd change."

"I don't want his soul, Master," the butler pressed. When he inhaled, so close to his mouth, Ciel's soul reacted by doing a little flip – or perhaps it was simply his adolescent stomach.

An undeniable splash of color stole into the young demon's face. He wanted then and there to grab Sebastian's wrist for a refreshment, or perhaps to just twist around in his seat and bite his tongue. Oh hell, who was he fooling? He wanted nothing less than to throw the fiend onto the mattress and tear open that immaculate white shirt.

Ciel desperately separated his gaze from his butler and insisted the massage was over. He straightened up.

"Was I too rough?" Sebastian asked slyly, anything but innocent.

Ciel didn't answer the question. He abruptly rose from his seat and paced to his bed to put distance between them. "I'm going to sleep. Keep your eyes and ears open for any intruders next door. And if for some reason Finny runs away – catch him."

"...Yes, my lord. But wouldn't you rather indulge in a quick snack, first?"

The question slammed Ciel in the gut. He had read him like an open book, of course. The younger demon hid the color that rushed to his face by tossing a pillow at the butler's smirk. It dropped to the floor with a soft thud.

"Now pick it up, fiend."

Sebastian bowed to retrieve the pillow. Ciel watched the curious way that his bangs fell around the soft angles of his face, and how his shoulders squared, and how graceful the swoop of his neck was behind the collar of his shirt. Even the tails of his coat, which seemed a natural extension of him, were a distraction. The blue-eyed demon swallowed the lump in his throat and yanked up the covers over his shoulder, then flipped over to face the other side of the room. He heard Sebastian place the pillow back down on the bed with a soft, deliberate crush of the fabric.

"My apologies, young master. I thought you looked a little peckish," he ventured.

Ciel gripped the blanket in his fist and buried his face in his own pillow. "You need your strength to guard Finny. I'll survive easily enough."

He _heard_ the grin that spread over the butler's face. "Liar," he whispered.

"I'll lie if I want," Ciel hissed back childishly. "Now sit over there and keep quiet."

His butler was a dark and imposing silhouette in the room as the candles blew out. He glided to the chair his master had been seated in for his massage, then sat down languidly, faced towards the wall that separated their room from Finny's.


	14. When In Danger, Stay Hidden

**Chapter IXV: When In Danger, Stay Hidden**

* * *

 _Master Ciel, Mister Sebastian, why would you trick all of us?_

Finny wanted to confront them now, but he was exhausted on every level. He could barely keep his red-rimmed eyes open. He hugged his knees, in a nest of blankets, in the king-size bed that he could not bring himself to get used to. The room was dark. Sebastian had left a gas light on beside him so that he wouldn't get too afraid, though it wasn't helping much.

He was uncontrollably shivering, almost as if he was going to be sick. Something about this place felt like the basement he had been kept in before his life had changed. When he had been a test subject. He could feel the sterility and the cold all over again. He nearly smelled the metal, the mould, the chemicals. The darkness seeped into his bones.

This was Hell, and yet, none of those scary things were really here. It was all just in his mind.

What had he expected when the reaper agreed to his request? Suffering. Pain. All in exchange for being close to Ciel Phantomhive, which was actually a fair bargain no matter how Finny looked at it. It's not like he had anyone else to run to in the direction of Heaven, if that even existed.

As far as Finny was concerned, the people he cared about did not belong here any more than he did.

Ciel and Sebastian were his family. That's why learning the truth about what they were hurt so much. He wasn't afraid as much as he was heartbroken – but he was still pretty terrified.

He could feel the sharp prick of a syringe in his arm and he flung himself over on his other side, to try to get some sleep. There was no one else there. He shivered, ran his hands up and down his arms, and curled into a ball under the covers.

He was trying to sort through his mind all the times that Sebastian had acted strange while they were alive, going about their daily routine in the Phantomhive Manor.

He couldn't think of any "strange" times, necessarily. Yet he couldn't keep count of how many times the butler had performed _perfectly_. And perhaps that was the strangeness that he had never seemed to notice.

Bard had called the perfect butler Superman. Now Finny could completely understand. He really _was_ Superman. He was never ever a human being at all, and had been just acting like one. The whole time. That's why he had been so good at everything he tried. Finny wondered if Sebastian was in fact the best actor that the world had ever known.

He eventually did fall into a restless sleep, filled with nightmares of horrible creatures with teeth. Lots and lots of teeth.

* * *

(/)

* * *

It had been long while since the last time they had set foot on Earth, Sebastian was musing. He missed the sweet nostalgic feeling of rain spraying his face. That's why he had enjoyed England so much – it always rained there, and it was a rather old part of the world besides. Nothing beat rain. Except perhaps Ciel Phantomhive's wet tongue trailing over his pulse...

He often stole glances at the small form of his master snuggled under the covers, knowing that he was trying very hard to sleep but was only successful in dozing in and out of a dream state. That small devil was nothing short of a miracle.

Sebastian was conflicted. He knew that Ciel was _trying_ to sleep, but that wasn't working because of what he had said earlier. Imagine that. The young demon squirmed under the covers because he was acutely aware of the older demon still in the room. There was mumbling and whimpering and all kinds of lovely involuntary sounds rising from that bed, but Sebastian stayed vigilant in monitoring for any signs of activity in Finny's room.

A candle next to Ciel's bed flickered on, but Sebastian paid it no mind as it cast dancing shadows across the room.

"Put it out, Sebas…" mumbled the boy.

Sebastian turned his head to view the spectacle. Had he lit up the candle in his sleep? That was a new trick.

Ciel shivered and made himself smaller. "I said put it out!" he commanded. He turned over and sat up, then blew out the candle roughly. He glared at Sebastian for a few moments, still as a statue, before going back to his former sleeping position.

Sebastian chuckled a little but stopped short as the candle relit itself. He immediately froze where he sat, observed the candle flickering, his eyes hard and visible within the dark silhouette of his body. There was a faint humming noise emanating from the flame.

"Quit it!" Ciel hissed.

"I haven't done anything," Sebastian replied, rising from his seat. Like a beached baby whale, Ciel flopped over, bangs in his eyes. They studied the candle together.

" _Sebas-_ chan _, darling!~_ " a voice echoed from the flame. There could be no mistake. That was Grell Sutcliff's voice. Ciel blinked as if trying to clear away an unpleasant mirage from his vision.

"Put it out now, Sebastian," he murmured, uncaring whether the reaper had anything important to say. "And throw it out of our room. I have no more patience for reapers."

Sebastian reached out to pick up the candle, but the voice started up again.

"Wait! Wait! You need to hear me, both of you. You're in danger."

The butler paused. "Danger?"

"We're in Hell, you idiot, it can't get any more dangerous than this," Ciel asserted, all too aware of who they were speaking to. He could practically see the redhead flailing his arms to get their attention.

"No, no! The Reaper Dispatch is looking to separate your soul from your body. They don't like that you're a demon, they say you're causing too much trouble and that you – "

"I won't allow that, Mr. Sutcliff," Sebastian stated harshly. "No one else can lay a hand on the young master except me."

There was an answering pout in the reaper's voice. "That's why they seek to kill you, Sebas-chan. They are going to break your contract and steal the brat for themselves. I'm calling to warn you."

Ciel blinked again, his face betraying his confusion. "Our contract is unbreakable even in death. This cannot happen. The Dispatch hopes for the impossible – they are nothing but a bunch of fools!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Grell teased. "I'm only doing this out of the kindness of my oozing red heart. Looks like this is all the time we have… Let's keep this a secret between us.~" His voice trailed off as one last flittering echo before the candle's flame shrank into nothing.

* * *

(/)

* * *

They were alone again, Sutcliff's presence gone as quickly as it had come. Ciel's eyes were filled with questions as he turned to focus on his servant.

"Might you know anything about this?" he asked darkly.

Sebastian shook his head. "This is news to me as much as it is to you, young lord. Had I known that the Reaper Dispatch was plotting against us, I would have been hunting them down one by one."

"This explains why Finny is here," the boy croaked. "They're using him somehow. They have sacrificed his soul to Hell for the sake of getting to _us._ Why would… How can…"

Sebastian grabbed Ciel's hand and caressed the small knuckles under his gloved thumb. Lightning sizzled up the young demon's arm. "I despise reapers," Sebastian muttered, gazing down at the petite hand of his master.

"What can we do? Is it true that they can break our contract by killing you?"

A small, modest smile played on Sebastian's lips. "They don't know as much as they think they do. Our contract cannot be _completely_ severed, but there can be – as a human may put it – a chink in the chain that binds us. They may be able to separate us enough to accomplish what they desire. And I understand their motives."

Ciel shot him an ominous glare. "Do you?"

"You are the first of your kind," he whispered. "Your very existence must be tampering with their books. They must want to reorganize whatever they deem has gone wrong by reversing what has been done to you."

"That's ridiculous," the child spat. He gripped Sebastian's hand in his own and held it tight. "They can't do that. They won't. It's too arrogant."

Sebastian grinned mischievously to lighten the mood a little, and tenderly bent to touch their foreheads together. "I'm glad you're as resolute as I am that they must be eradicated."

"Resolute as death itself," Ciel frowned back, ever the brooding one, trying not to pay so much attention to how close they were instead of on the matter at hand. "What I can't foresee is how they expect to draw us out into the open. It's not as if we're obligated to meet them anywhere."

"We indeed have time," his handsome servant answered. "They'll think up ways to get us to come out, but I'm certain that they will fail. We will approach them when _we_ choose, and when they least expect it."

Face stoic, Ciel slid a tensed hand into the butler's silky ink-black hair. Sebastian's lips curled into an archaic, sinisterly teasing smile. Although the young demon's face was brooding and unamused, his intentions were clear, and both of them knew it.

"I'm fascinated when you talk about destruction," Ciel confessed seriously. "Now, about that snack…?"

"Are you _asking_ me, Master?" His black hair was suddenly gripped tight and his head was pulled back to expose the length of his long and slender neck. With it, his strong demonic pulse.

"Of course not," Ciel replied. "But I'd like you to pretend to beg for your life, as if you're a human being about to be sucked dry."

"I don't beg," Sebastian gently protested, his eyes not only filled with life, but delight at the unapologetic callousness of the evil nobleman's words. This was a pleasant turn of events. Eternally amused with the quick wit of his master, he marveled that the nature of their conversation practically shifted with a snap of his fingers.

"Is that so?" wondered the child playfully, gravitating closer so there was less distance between their bodies. "All of my pets beg. You're no exception. Let's hear you plead for me to be gentle. Plead for me to spare you."

Sebastian's brain was swimming in happiness, and his heart – dare he confess it to himself – was doing somersaults within the confines of his ribs. It seemed that the heart of his master was doing the same. The younger demon began undoing a button with his free hand to open up more of the older demon's collar.

"There are many things you ask of me. But begging is one thing that I do not – "

His hair was pulled on roughly to send his chin jutting up. A delicious sound of surprise floated to Ciel's hungry ears.

"You may be a demon," Ciel warned, "but you're disguised as a man. And with that disguise comes lots of things to worry about."

Sebastian wanted to remark that Ciel sounded as if he was speaking from experience.

Now that thought sent a wonderful shiver down his spine! To think that the boy was so cold, so dark, that he felt being human had _always_ been a disguise for his true self… That in fact after he was kidnapped from his childhood home after the death of parents, Sebastian had finally come along as the catalyst. The catalyst to release the child from his innocent disguise.

Ciel was now exactly who he was always meant to be. Yes, what a delectable thought. He wondered if such a thing were possible to know for sure.

"What should I worry about, _little_ master?" he finally teased, unwilling to give up his position of the predator in this bond that they shared.

Ciel's brows knit together. "Worry about your own inability to control yourself, for one thing. It's as plain as day on your face that you can hardly withstand the touch of my hand. How can you follow my commands if you are so easily distracted?"

"Now that's quite unfair," he whispered as the boy's mouth hovered over his skittering pulse.

"I'll tell you what is unfair. The fact that I am trapped in the body of a child. If I had had any choice in the matter, I would have waited until at least eighteen for this...whatever this is."

Sebastian put a hand to the small of Ciel's back to coax him closer. "We both know it wouldn't matter what the age of your body is – your soul will always be blossoming inside of it."

With his throat bared like this, never in his life had Sebastian felt so open for the scrutiny of another being before, so raw, so… what was the word? Vulnerable. Is this what prey felt like? How did they stand it? How did his master stand it?

Abruptly, the boy's grip let up. Sebastian's body naturally began righting itself. His smile became a smoldering, unsatisfied frown. What was this, hesitation? When did Ciel Phantomhive ever hesitate in doing anything? The butler was still lost, his head swimming, and right now he did not want his master, this of all times, to change his mind and release him.

Their eyes remained locked on each other; Ciel's unreadable, Sebastian's a smoldering fuschia in painful but unvoiced anticipation.

All of a sudden, the younger demon smiled so _fiendishly_ that Sebastian thought he was looking into a mirror. "I knew I could get you to beg," he said triumphantly.

The butler realized that their expressions had swapped. The absurdity of it! Ciel had stolen his identity, stolen his position as the predator, and frankly – completely stolen his black heart. Damn him. Damn it all.

"I love y – "

Ciel slammed a delicate hand over Sebastian's mouth, partly out of terror at the phrase. His wide eyes narrowed. "Don't say it, or we'll both be sick. But I know."

The butler tenderly pulled down the young demon's hand in order to speak.

"Well, if you know… then I should need no excuse for this." Sebastian dug his hand into Ciel's nightgown and without warning, launched him onto the bed at full force before following swiftly.

* * *

(/)

* * *

Undertaker was helping Grell gather up the materials they had used to call Hell. Every once and awhile, he giggled out of the blue, thinking to himself that he had never expected Ciel Phantomhive to twist his soul in such a way – and on purpose, at that. He had never heard of a human willingly embracing a life of the damned.

And an equally amusing spin on their story had him laughing even more. Sure, humans succumbed to the poison charm of demons all the time, but for a demon to succumb to the poison of another demon… It was to get a taste of his own medicine, in a manner of speaking.

"So?" he finally asked the redhead. "Did the call to the wolf satisfy you?"

Grell clucked his tongue while handing the rogue reaper his belongings. Bowls of herbs, vials of liquids, bones of animals, those sorts of things. "That was nowhere near as long as I needed," he whined, readjusting his decorated glasses for a moment.

Undertaker waggled a finger. "It was nowhere near as long as you _wanted,_ Red, but it was certainly enough time to warn them. The Dispatch will not be pleased to hear about your treachery."

"What they won't know won't hurt them.~"

The silver-haired reaper laughed without restraint before putting a finger to his chin. "I looked at that demon's cinematic record for much longer than you have, dear Red. His attachment to that soul is bar none. It's the strongest contract I have ever seen… And you know how many of _those_ I've witnessed in my time at the Dispatch."

Although Grell wasn't happy to hear this, he lowered his eyes in agreement. "What are you getting at, old-timer?"

The giggles were unstoppable little hiccups escaping from that wide grin. "Warning the butler and his master of the threat has perhaps – _hee hee_ – put the entire organization at risk. Sebastian Michaelis will not rest until the danger to his master has been erased."

Grell paid no mind to the long black fingernail that was poking his cheek. "The sooner he attacks, the sooner we can be together again," he flirted to the air, clasping his hands. "Then we'll have our hot and steamy deathmatch and everything will be right with the world."

Undertaker flicked at the redhead's glasses. "Are you so confident that's what you want? Chasing after a demon under a contract?"

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly. "I've chased more difficult cases," he replied, thinking only of William and the cold, unfeeling look behind his glasses.

"Nooooo, Red. I think this is the worst you've ever set your oozing red heart on!" cackled Undertaker.


End file.
